BOMBERS HIRE WYLIE

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers announce today that Bob Wylie has been added to the club’s football staff and will oversee the development of the offensive line.

Wylie re-joins the Bombers after last coaching the NFL’s Oakland Raiders offensive line in 2011. He returns to the Bombers after spending the 2007 and 2008 seasons with Winnipeg as the club’s offensive line coach. Wylie is in his fourth decade of coaching, including 20 years at the professional level.

“Bob is a great teacher of the game. He has a long resume of coaching experience and we are thrilled to have him join our staff,” said Head Coach Mike O’Shea. “His experience in all levels of football, on both sides of the border, is such a huge asset for us.”

Under Wylie’s watch, Oakland’s offensive line improved from one of the worst in sacks given up, to the top five in the NFL.

Wylie spent the 2010 season coaching the offensive line for the Denver Broncos. As an NFL assistant with Arizona, Tampa Bay and Chicago, he paved the way for seven offensive linemen to earn Pro Bowl berths. He also coached tight ends with the New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals.

Before returning to the NFL in 2010, Wylie spent the 2009 season coaching the offensive line of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, helping lead them to a Grey Cup appearance.  His two year stint (2007-2008) with Winnipeg also saw him coach in the 2007 Grey Cup.  During those three seasons, Wylie had all-stars at every position on the offensive line.

Wylie spent 13 seasons coaching at the collegiate level, with the latest stint as offensive line coach at Syracuse (2005-06). He served in the same capacity at the University of Cincinnati (1996), Colorado State (1988-89), Holy Cross (1983-84) and Brown (1980-82) and was offensive coordinator at Ohio University (1985-87).