Scott Milanovich is not one to mince his words; he's direct and to the point, which is exactly what happened in his final meeting with Bo Levi Mitchell on Sunday.
The 35-year-old gunslinger is out of contract and Milanovic shared his thoughts on the playing future of the walking Canadian Football Hall of Famer.
“I let him know how much I appreciated him, I let him know that I thought he could still play, not just one more year, but maybe a couple more years – if his heart is in it and his family supports him. That's what it comes down to, his decision and his family's decision. I made it clear to him that I want him back, let's put it that way,” Milanovich said.
“I need to have discussions. It's retreat day, so I'm talking to Scott, talking to Scott and talking to Scott Mitchell, and that's going to happen over the next few days. I think we all have a mutual understanding of what we all want. I have to talk it out with my wife, my girls and decide what's best for us as a family and for me,” Mitchell said.
The two-time Most Outstanding Player has worked hard to revive his career. He's thrown for over 5,000 yards in consecutive seasons, leading the league in that category plus passing touchdowns, and has even looked fast running the football when needed the last two years. Mitchell rushed for his first touchdown since 2015 from 14 yards out to prove it. in September.
Native Loans Katy, Texas Marcellus BowmanHamilton's strength and conditioning coach for invigorating his mind and body. The former Ticats linebacker forced him to work out “every single day” before the 2024 season, Mitchell said, and his body responded. This schedule was adjusted in preparation for 2025: he trained one day, rested the next, trained, rested the next, and so on. Once again his body responded.
“I've asked a lot of people, 'How do you know when you're finished?' A lot of them tell you that you don't want to get hit anymore, or that you don't like the grind, you don't like training, or whatever. Honestly, it was a pain for me. For five, six years straight I was in pain every single day, and I felt like I was mitigating the pain to get to a game that I was going to come out of in even more pain,” Mitchell said.
“It was hard because I couldn't pick up my girls or play with them or do what I wanted. Year after year it weighed on me until I met Marcellus and I was able to change it. That's where that mental aspect of it all changed. Suddenly I started feeling great every day and my body didn't hurt every day.”
Mitchell went so far as to share his newfound knowledge with young CFL defensemen – his teammate Taylor Powell, Davis Alexander and Drew Brown – whom he specifically named. He took it upon himself to talk to Alexander and Brown during pregame warmups when the TigerCats played them.
“I told Davis, 'You're posting videos of yourself deadlifting 495 pounds, I couldn't do that if my body was asking me to do it right now.' I told him, 'Be careful, it works for a long time, but you have to always take good care of your body and listen to your body,'” Mitchell said.
“Same thing with Drew Brown, I talked to him privately. I had to learn to stop throwing so much in the offseason. I tell Taylor he posts videos of cool, crazy angle shots all the time, and I'm like, 'You can't do that in the offseason anymore.' As an athlete, you learn to change, look at things differently, train to get back here in the best way possible.”
The six-foot-one, 210-pound QB once had a goal to try catch Anthony Calvillo to set the CFL record for career passing yards. Mitchell has 44,319 career passing yards, which ranks eighth all timeand his renewed mind and body may enable him to continue to add to his total.
“For some reason, when I took the pads off last night, it felt like it wasn't the last time I was going to take them off. It doesn't mean I don't take the pads off, it doesn't mean I take them off, I have to talk to my wife and have those discussions,” Mitchell said, reflecting on his feelings after Hamilton's 19-16 loss in the East final.
“I love the grind, I love the film, I love the learning, I love the hours – everything. When I took the pads and boots off last night, it didn't feel like the last time, but these are the discussions I need. As a player, it's always been my dream to get to the top. So to come so close and fail is tough.”
Mitchell noted there were no contract extension talks with the Ticats for the 2025 CFL season, but it appears that if he is going to play football in the new year, it will likely be in Hamilton.
