Yes, it was arctic cold, but around the stadium this week there was a very noticeable feeling that winter was finally over.
Bo Levi Mitchell was back in town, triggering a festive attitude. It’s still four weeks away but training camp was definitely in the air; the thrill of renewed comradeship, the promise of a new season.
Mitchell and several Ticats were led through intense conditioning and skills drills in a private session with strength and conditioning coach Marcellus Bowman.
“It feels great, I’m excited to get here with the boys, throwing and working out with them,” says Mitchell, who is coming off one of the greatest seasons of his Hall-of-Fame-bound career.
Mitchell had arrived the previous night—he and his wife Madison and daughters Ele and Lakelyn have a new family home in South Carolina—and will be in the city through the weekend. He was joined yesterday by running back Ante Litre, receivers Kiondré Smith, Brendan O’Leary-Orange, Tyler Ternowski and Keaton Bruggeling as well as defensive backs Jamal Peters and Stavros Katsantonis.
Premier receiver Tim White was scheduled to arrive Wednesday night and others will likely show up Friday when Mitchell leads the whole group through passing drills on the stadium field.
The 35-year-old quarterback has been in regular contact with Bowman, whom he constantly credits with rejuvenating him after a disappointing 2023 season, his first as a Ticat, in which he twice was forced onto the six-game injury list. While it was Mitchell who had to commit to a demanding physical and nutrition regimen, Bowman was the one who convinced him it was necessary to make a change in his off-season mind-set. And the results were spectacular. Mitchell’s body shape had visibly changed by training camp, his first steps were much quicker and his arm was deep-throw strong.
“I gave Marcellus an old, moldy, fat piece of clay and told him to make a nice face out of it,” Mitchell laughs. “This year, we get to start off with something a little bit nicer for him to work with. Last year I could see the benefits happening in training camp so I’m just waiting to see how they compare this year. We’re not starting from such a bad spot.
“The nice thing is because of that off-season last year I could carry that into this year. Having the knowledge from Marcellus—and the same program, obviously, but adding some weight and adding some speed to what we did last year—we had a better foundation. That’s what everything is for, in the body an athlete, trying to build a better foundation. I think having that foundation last year and being able to carry it into this off-season has been pretty beneficial.”
Although he wasn’t picture perfect in 2024—there were those costly turnovers early in the season—it was pretty close and he was a finalist for CFL’s Most Outstanding Player, which he lost to running back Brady Oliveira. The Blue Bomber had an astounding season but did not outdistance other CFL running backs by the margin Mitchell blew past his peers at quarterback, the game’s most important position.
He led the league in touchdown passes—in fairness, he also had the most interceptions—and was the first quarterback in six years to reach 5,000 passing yards. Only one other pivot, Zach Collaros even got to 4,000. His 5,451 yards were 26% higher than Collaros’s total, represented a personal-best and a Ticats’ franchise record, and he clicked for an other-worldly 875 yards and five touchdowns over the season’s final two games.
“It was special just getting to rebound and respond and get back to that kind of upper echelon of playing,” Mitchell says, with a few months of post-2024 reflection. “And I’m thankful to Scott (Milanovich, head coach and offensive coordinator). Being able to play for him has been a huge benefit to me as a person but also as a football mind, kind of getting to see the game from a different perspective. His willingness to adapt and create is fun to be around.”
Because Milanovich is always coming up with new concepts, Mitchell jokes that he sits by the phone during the off-season and, “when it rings, I answer it. I don’t think Scott will ever rest. He really dives into his work and gets after it. When he’s got something he says, ‘Let’s get this done.’”
The Ticat offence did lose the CFL’s fourth-leading receiver Steven Dunbar Jr. and all-CFL centre David Beard, both to Edmonton via free agency. But Hamilton General Manager Ted Goveia doubled down on the team’s major strength, offence, by signing elite receivers Kenny Lawler and Drew Wolitarsky, and all-star guard Liam Dobson while re-signing potential free agents Smith and O’Leary-Orange.
The Ticats have several receivers with CFL experience under contract and capable of starting, and that doesn’t include first-year CFLers who could make an impression and emerge as starters or near-starters as tight end Jevoni Robinson and rookie-of-the-year finalist Shemar Bridges did last year.
“As a quarterback, the nice thing is that you’re not thinking about who to throw before the play,” Mitchell says. “I didn’t have to last year either—I thought our unit was insanely good—and so to add to it is going to make it fun. It’ll be exciting to see how we’ll be moving guys around in training camp. See where guys are going to play. I think we’ll have to play with it, see what makes us the offence we can be.”
Last year with a young defence, it was incumbent for the offence to hit the ground with its feet running in training camp and get out to a good start. With all the defensive changes—at least five new starters—it is probably again incumbent upon the offence to bolt from the gates until the defence gets familiar with the personnel, the schemes and new coordinator Brent Monson, whom Mitchell knows well and respects from their decade together in Calgary.
“I feel like we always want our offence to hit the ground running,” Mitchell responds. “As a leader on the offence, I want it to be the best unit but I want those other units to challenge us to be that. I think we have the guys to do it and with the new guys we have on defence, I like where we’re at. I think we have guys who have played and got better and you look at, say, (strong side defensive half), Destin Talbert, and all those reps he got last year, there’ll be real improvement.
“You’re going to lose players every year but I think Ted and Scott and O (Orlondo Steinauer) have done an amazing job of bringing in the right guys. I think our defence is going to be pretty damn good.”
Offence too, it says here.
