Toronto Argonauts. 2007. Mike O'Shea. Credit: CFL
There was quite a pregnant pause yesterday, when former CFL great Michael O'Shea was asked if he had any interest in becoming the next head coach of the Toronto Argonauts.
O'Shea's name as a potential candidate to replace Bart Andrus, who was fired by the club last Monday, first surfaced from the fertile imagination of Argos defensive tackle Adriano Belli.
Asked if he had any inclination to get into coaching, O'Shea paused for at least 30 seconds before answering. He didn't say yes, but he didn't throw cold water on the premise, either.
"So Beli springs this on everybody and says this is going to happen and now I have to deal with it?" a bemused O'Shea said during an interview. "This is like a joke Beli likes to play on people, right?"
That said, O'Shea - whose 16-year CFL career came to an end with the Argonauts after the 2008 season (although the 39-year-old linebacker has never formally announced his retirement) - obviously has an interest in returning to the game in some capacity.
"Do I think I can coach?" the CFL's 1999 most outstanding Canadian player said. "It's a tough job. Every time I was in the film room or in the stadium, the coaches were already there. When I left, they were still there. It's a tough gig and there's a lot to learn."
Michael (Pinball) Clemons, who resigned as the Argos coach after the 2007 season and remains with the organization as the team's vice-chairman, was also asked yesterday if he would answer a call to return to the coaching ranks.
"I always answer the phone, but I'm not coaching," Clemons said. "I stopped coaching because of my kids and that hasn't changed."