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“He understands what it’s like being back there and going through the reads and what it’s like on a daily basis and what you have to do to be successful. Having a guy like that in your corner, where you always know you can ask questions and he has a really great insight to the game as a coach and a former player, I love having him out here.”

One thing you’ll never see Pierce do is pat himself on the back.

He’s a humble, unassuming man who’s not looking for credit, but rather just playing a role on Mike O’Shea’s coaching staff.

Of course, he wants to win a Grey Cup — and he’d love to do it for Winnipeg after 10 years in the city — but you can see that watching quarterbacks develop under his tutelage and watching his kids grow up in a healthy environment is what drives him.

Both his kids were born in Winnipeg and his wife is from here.

“We bought our first place at the end of 2011, right after the Grey Cup,” says Pierce, who was traded back to the Lions to finish out the 2013 season but returned as a coach the next season. “We put down roots. We didn’t know how long we would be here but I always took the approach of ‘Where you are, you make that your home.’ It’s been awesome to be able to make this my home now for 10 years.”

Nichols arrived in Winnipeg in 2015 and took over as the starter early in 2016, the first year Pierce began coaching the quarterbacks.

Nichols says what makes Pierce special is he understands the emotions of the game. He can see when the quarterback in the trenches needs to be talked to and when he needs to be left alone. He doesn’t scream and yell, but presents a level-headed person for Nichols to lean on in good times and bad.