Sean Oleksewycz understands the importance special teams plays in the Canadian game. Manitoba's coordinator in the area, it helped him get on the field at the U SPORTS level with Mount Allison, and he's taken his experiences as a player and used them to mould into one of the country's top minds in that department.

Oleksewycz takes great pride in seeing rising stars find a role, allowing unsung heroes to emerge and develop into standouts. 

"I found my way onto the field through special teams early in my career. I like that a less known player can make a huge impact on the game in a special moment," he said. 

"I look back on the Calgary game last year where we weren't playing great offensively, but our punt team basically flipped the game for us. Aidan Wiberg who hadn't played much football up until then was an absolute demon on the punt team. And Dan Conway blocks a punt with four minutes to go. [Quarterback] Jackson [Tachinski] scores and we get a stop on defence to win the game. I enjoy that part of it. The pressures of having limited time to prepare those units, I also enjoy. I try to get the most out of my guys."

Nathan Udoh, Jerome Fouillard and Gavin Perkins – who's back after a significant lower body injury – are other Bisons who've built their roles up, beginning on special teams. Noah Anderson and Asun Ducharme can also fly around and change the energy of a game on special teams. 

A third of the game in Canada, it's a way to build confidence, get valuable reps and potentially find work as a pro.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers special teams coordinator Mike Miller is a perfect example of this, as is Bombers long snapper Mike Benson and teammates like Tanner Cadwallader and Nick Hallett. 

"Udoh was a rotational receiver. He blocks a punt against Regina. Jerome's not playing much defence. He strips a ball against UBC. Udoh stops a fake punt against UBC. When those guys can make plays, I always tell those guys, celebrate your teammate's successes. We just hope to keep growing as a unit," added Oleksewycz. 

"[Perkins] has done a great job for us. He's super physical out there. He flies around and makes plays. We were kind of banged up the year that DJ Lalama was the special teams coordinator. I said what about Perkins? We're dressing 50 let's just throw him on something. He made a play on the first kickoff and it was like oh, okay that guy's got some dog in him. He's going to be outstanding for us. He found his role and that role has led to him now playing defensive end. He's been out for two years. I'm excited to see him in the pre-season game."
 

'We want to play complementary football'
Expect Manitoba's punt cover team to be particularly efficient. Last year, with the leg of Ben George, the Herd led Canada West in punting average, at 42.7 yards. The goal is to once again flip the field, allowing CanWest Player of the Year Jackson Tachinski and Manitoba's veteran offence to go to work. 

"When I took the role, my first thing was we're going to protect the punter at all costs. That's been my number one thing. Our philosophy is, we have the number one offence in our conference. Let's protect the football. Let's make sure we get the football back to Jackson and that crew and that offensive line," Oleksewycz added. 

"As long as we have this offence with us, we're going to get the ball, not take penalties and provide good field position for them. That's our goal, is to let [Tachinski] go to work. We want to play complementary football to our offence and defence and make other special teams units play left-handed."

The anchor of Manitoba's punt team is First Team All-Canadian running back Breydon Stubbs. The fifth-year, who broke the school record for rushing touchdowns last year and led the nation in rushing yards, takes pride in the 'teams, and always has as a Bison dating back to 2019. 

"Credit to Breydon Stubbs man. He's a First Team All-Canadian, but he sets up the punt team. He sets up our protections. He makes sure everyone is set. He's really the quarterback of the unit. I think the biggest change in our punt unit has been his leadership as the up back there making sure everything is set," said Oleksewycz. 

"It's his unit. I tell him all the time. As long as you're talking and everyone is talking out there, we'll be successful as a punt team."

Alongside Stubbs is third-year long snapper Jake Deneka, who's had the role ever since his freshman year. This season he'll dishing the pigskin to holder Zachary Wynne, kicker Maya Turner (Canada West All-Star, seventh in career field goals, with 21) and Calgary Colts standout Robert Lasebnik, who takes over from George, who was also a conference all-star. 

"[Lasebnik] was number one in net average in the CJFL last year. With Ben leaving we needed a punter who could play immediately. Maya has drastically improved in her punting, but we wanted to get the best guy out there that we felt could flip the field for us. He was a natural fit for us," said Oleksewycz.

"We went after him super hard. He has a super strong leg. He can kick the ball. His placement is there. I'm excited to see him play Thursday. He has great hang time on his punts, and he's a little more athletic."