REDBLACKS' attention turns to offseason plans

11/19/2024 09:17 AM

The 10th season of Ottawa REDBLACKS football has come and gone, and in many ways, it was a year to be remembered.

They won seven of their nine home games, finishing with a franchise-best home record of 7-1-1, they reached the postseason for the first time since 2018, and Dru Brown looked like the franchise quarterback General Manager Shawn Burke and company have been searching for.

Still, it wasn't perfect, of course. The loss in the East Semi-Final stung, and the REDBLACKS were stopped short of their ultimate goal, setting up another important offseason in the nation's capital.

"Like any season, there were ups and downs," Burke said. "We saw some progress in our organization. Is it where we want to be? Absolutely not. We have to continue to get better. I think it’s one of the things we have to talk about in the offseason. You always have to evolve, because the reality is, eight other teams are going to do the same thing, no matter if you won a Grey Cup or you didn’t make the playoffs, and we’re somewhere in between."

"We have one ultimate goal, just like eight other teams do, and we have to continue to evolve and get better."

In the past, you've almost certainly heard Burke talking about the winning recipe for any football team: you win with your quarterback, and in the trenches. Now, he's adding to that, suggesting the third key element is consistency.

"If I had to use a word, it’s consistency," Burke said. "I have a great deal of respect for teams that have done it for a long time in this league. Winnipeg is a big example, and I think they’re a consistent football team week after week."

"Consistency doesn’t mean game-day consistency. It means consistency seven days a week, 365 days a year, and putting everything that makes us a better organization at the forefront."

What happens on the field is only a small part of that equation, he adds.

"People assume we’re talking about players, but it’s from myself, the medical staff, the equipment staff, the video staff, and the coaching staff. It’s consistency day in and day out. With the talent that we can bring in with resources we’re provided by ownership, we can be an organization that gets to that level of consistency, but we have to do it every day."

The Grey Cup has been won, and all nine teams are in offseason mode. Around the league, teams will look to lock up their own free agents and put themselves in a good spot to attack free agency, with as few big holes to fill as possible.

Before Burke can start that process, however, there is a lot of work to get through.

"We’re going to have input and communication throughout this organization," Burke explained. "You have to get that from players, the coaching staff, operations staff, and the personnel staff. It’s up to Bob [Dyce] and myself to garner that feedback. To sit here today and assess what we have to do differently doesn’t do justice to what I believe in, which is evaluating things, taking a holistic approach to come up with a plan, and seeing how we have to improve."

Across the league, many big names are up for new contracts, as always, and Ottawa is no different. It isn't a quick process, either, according to Burke.

"It’s always ongoing," he said. "Everyone gets focused on the big names, but the reality is that usually, your big names take the most work to get done. You get into the nuts and bolts of conversing with free agents, and they’ve earned the opportunity [to test the market]. Do I wish we were a league with longer-term deals? Absolutely, but it’s what makes our league great."

"They have to see what’s available to them, and what works for them. It’s a two-way street. I believe one of my strengths is working with agents and players, and having an ongoing dialogue. I don’t get too up or down, and it’s never personal. It’s always about finding a win-win, that’s what any deal should feel like, there’s value for both sides, and sometimes you have to work longer and harder to get to it."