Bisons Preview: 'My heart is in the program'

Named the first full-time offensive coordinator in Bisons football history ahead of the 2025 season, Blair Atkinson bleeds brown and gold.
 
Atkinson's connection to the Bisons extends more than two decades, and he is renowned in his ability to develop next-level talent. He was Manitoba's receivers coach last season, as well as for nine years from 2007-2016. Additionally, he was offensive coordinator in 2017-18.
 
In his first year as positional coach, the Bisons won the Vanier Cup, and he was also on the team's 2014 staff when they won the Hardy Cup.
 
Atkinson has been instrumental in the development of countless Bisons receivers who've gone on to play at the next level, including Xavier Johnson (2012 CFL Free Agent, Montreal), Quincy Hurst (2012 CFL fourth round pick, Toronto), Anthony Coombs (2014 first round pick, Toronto), Andrew Smith (2014 fourth round pick, Montreal), Nic Demski (2015 first round pick, Saskatchewan), Alex Vitt (2016 seventh round pick, Winnipeg), Dylan Schrot (2018 Free Agent, Winnipeg), Shai Ross (2019 fifth round pick, Edmonton), Macho Bockru (2020 Free Agent, Winnipeg) and AK Gassama (2024 sixth round pick, Winnipeg).
 
Meanwhile, three players (Zack Williams, OL, Ross, Schrot, REC) on Manitoba's 2017 roster progressed to the CFL level, while quarterback Des Catellier, now a CFL coach, later went on to break the school record for career passing yards (7,616).
 
"I was a player here, a positional coach, a volunteer coordinator and now I'm full-time. When I was a player I gave everything I had to the team, when I was a positional coach, same thing," said Atkinson.
 
"My heart is in the program. That's what I want from the players. Give everything you have as a student-athlete to make this a priority for you. If we get that from them, and the coaching staff is giving everything and everyone is doing everything they can, all the rest will take care of itself. I feel very comfortable asking that from them, because I was in their situation."
 
"My family's heart is in this fully too, which is very important," added Atkinson, who played his community football in Langley, spent his high school years with the Aldergrove Totems and played in the CJFL for the Abbotsford Airforce and South Fraser (now Langley) Rams.
 
"Probably one of the biggest fans of the Bisons might be my son. He knows the guys' names, he knows who's playing in the CFL from the Bisons. He really looks up to the program. I met my wife when I played here. This is a dream job for me. Who doesn't want to be full-time and coordinating for the team that you played for? I was talking to coach [Terry] Watson, I'm from BC but we've lived in Winnipeg now longer than we lived in BC. I'm a Winnipeger. My family is from here, my kids are from here. I'm excited to take this job."
 

'That bit can go a long way'
Atkinson's reputation as an elite developer of talent includes his role as co-founder of the renowned training program Recruit Ready, alongside fellow Bisons alum and 2007 Vanier Cup champion Brad Black (his 1,520 total yards in punt returns between 2004-07 rank second all-time).
 
Recruit Ready focuses on year-round football-specific training, which includes their seven-on-seven traveling teams. Recruit Ready helped train and develop over 40 members of the 2024 Bisons roster, and their pipeline includes alum that are competing at the NFL, CFL, NCAA Division 1 and U SPORTS levels. 
 
"I feel like Recruit Ready has done a great job preparing the athletes for the next step. We go down to the states, so the game itself is a touch different, but the seven-on-seven aspect of it is really catered to the Canadian game. Your regular set is five receivers, well that's what we do here," noted Atkinson.
 
"The kids that were in Recruit Ready and now they're in this system, they've got a bit of a head start, because even though seven-on-seven doesn't have motion, it is a lot of the same concepts. That helps them system-wise. To have that competition, not just in the states but every day when they come to practice, they're competing against the best players in the province. It just helps them out when they get here and the learning process and the speed and strength of getting here. That bit can go a long way over the years."
 
Fellow coaches, and Bisons and Recruit Ready alum such as AK Gassama and Macho and Markos Bockru, are among those who've helped "instill the Bison culture" within the RR program, allowing for a notable pipeline.
 
"Without even knowing it, they're instilling the Bison culture into Recruit Ready. If you're coming from that program, that's all you know," Atkinson echoed.
 
"I know Bison culture, Macho helps out there, AK helps out there, Markos helps out there. Even more than that, we'll get players to come out and help coach. You really learn the game when you start coaching, it really elevates the details and the importance of the small things."
 

 
'We're going to be a multi-dimensional offence'
From a systems perspective, fans can expect the Bisons to have variety, with multiple personnel formations. Ten starters return on offence, and the depth behind those players is also notable.
 
On the offensive line, four starters are back in Sean Rowe (All-Canadian left tackle), Mark Rauhaus (centre), Matt Stokman (right guard, CFL Draft pick of Calgary) and Victor Olaniran (right tackle). That quartet, along with many others, helped the Herd rush for a school record 2,016 yards last season.
 
In the backfield, Breydon Stubbs is back for his fifth year, one season after breaking the program record for rushing majors in a season, with 14. A five-year starter, his 162 total carries were also the most in U SPORTS, and he rushed for a career high 937 yards. His 2,096 yards rushing are sixth in school history, and he's just 136 yards shy of Grey Cup champ Anthony Coombs for fifth.
 
Fellow seniors Shakur Harris (221 yards) and Noah Anderson (119 yards) also return, as does sophomore Aidan Wiberg, a special teams phenom who scored his first career U SPORTS touchdown in the regular season finale against UBC.
 
Additionally, seniors Vaughan Lloyd and Braeden Smith (568 combined all-purpose yards in 2024, three touchdowns) are capable of running the rock or breaking away in space as receivers, while East West Bowl selection De Shawn Le Jour (621 career receiving yards, four majors) is a red zone force, and Mula Yitna is coming off a career year, with 186 yards receiving and two scores.
 
Nathan Udoh, another East West Bowl selection, also flashed brilliance towards the end of the season. He's averaged at least 20 yards per reception in three different contests between the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
 
Jake Roger, Zachary Wynne, Carver Trapp and Rylan Klenk are among the many other standouts who've either started for Manitoba or are pushing for time through camp.
 
At the quarterback position, Canada West Player of the Year Jackson Tachinski returns for his final campaign. Manitoba's Male Athlete of the Year, Tachinski was second in efficiency in Canada West last year, at 150.6, while setting career highs in passing yards (1662), passing touchdowns (11) and rushing yards (570).
 
A two-way threat, Tachinski's 1,305 career regular season rushing yards are the most of any quarterback in program history.


 
Long story short, Atkinson and the rest of Manitoba's experienced coaching staff have plenty of weapons at their disposal.
 
"My biggest focus this year is to try and have us be able to distribute the ball to our athletes, and figure out what each athlete does best, and try to use them for that. We've got such a veteran group here, we've got a ton of running backs, even at quarterback we've got our bona fide starter no question, but we would be very confident in our backups as well," noted Atkinson.
 
"We're going to be a multi-dimensional offence. We want to have a menu of plays that we can pick from, and see what the defence is presenting to us, and attack their weaknesses. We've got a couple of receivers that can play running back as well. We'll be able to be in certain formations and be able to seamlessly get into other formations that can hopefully give the defence some problems."
 
Manitoba kicks off their season with a pre-season home game against Regina on August 21 at 5 pm at Princess Auto Stadium.