2020 Ottawa Redblacks season

The 2020 Ottawa Redblacks season was scheduled to be the seventh season for the team in the Canadian Football League. This would have been the first season for Paul LaPolice as the team's head coach and the seventh season with Marcel Desjardins as general manager.

2020 Ottawa Redblacks season
General managerMarcel Desjardins
Head coachPaul LaPolice
Home fieldTD Place Stadium
Results
RecordN/A
Division placeN/A, East
Playoff finishSeason cancelled

Training camps, pre-season games, and regular season games were initially postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa. The CFL announced on April 7, 2020 that the start of the 2020 season would not occur before July 2020.[1] On May 20, 2020, it was announced that the league would likely not begin regular season play prior to September 2020.[2] On August 17, 2020 however, the season was officially cancelled due to COVID-19.[3]

Offseason

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Personnel changes

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Three days following the conclusion of the 2019 season, on November 4, 2019, Rick Campbell announced that he was stepping down as head coach of the Redblacks.[4][5] In a press conference, Campbell explained that he had become disappointed that several former players left the team feeling underappreciated and dejected and that he had a strained relationship with the team's general manager, Marcel Desjardins.[6] Campbell left the Redblacks with a 44–62–2 record over six seasons with one Grey Cup championship in three appearances. He had one year remaining on his contract that OSEG agreed to pay out over five years.[6]

On December 7, 2019, it was announced that Paul LaPolice had agreed to a three-year contract to become the head coach of the Ottawa Redblacks.[7] He was most recently the offensive coordinator for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 2016 to 2019, including the 107th Grey Cup championship.[7] He has also served as head coach of the Blue Bombers from 2010 to 2012 while compiling a 16–28 record.

CFL National Draft

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The 2020 CFL National Draft took place on April 30, 2020.[8] By virtue of recording the worst record in the league in 2019, the Redblacks had the first selection in each round, not including traded picks.[9] After trading for the rights to Nick Arbuckle and re-signing him, the Redblacks swapped first-round picks with the Calgary Stampeders and also sent them a third-round pick.[10] The team also gained a territorial selection after finishing in the bottom two of the previous year's standings.[9][11]

Round Pick Player Position School Hometown
1 6 Adam Auclair DB Laval Quebec City, QC
2 10 Michael Hoecht DL Brown Oakville, ON
2 19T Dan Basambombo LB Laval Ottawa, ON
4 29 Jakub Szott OL McMaster Toronto, ON
5 38 Terrance Abrahams-Webster DB Calgary Pickering, ON
6 47 Brad Cowan LB Wilfrid Laurier Ashton, ON
7 56 Reshaan Davis DL Ottawa Oshawa, ON
8 65 Kétel Assé OL Laval Quebec City, QC

CFL Global Draft

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The 2020 CFL Global Draft was scheduled to take place on April 16, 2020.[12] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this draft and its accompanying combine were postponed to occur just before the start of training camp, which was ultimately cancelled.[1][13] The Redblacks were scheduled to select first in each round with the number of rounds never announced.[12]

Planned schedule

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Preseason

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Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent TV Venue
A Bye
B 1 Fri, May 29 7:30 p.m. EDT vs. Montreal Alouettes NA TD Place Stadium
C 2 Thu, June 4 7:30 p.m. EDT at Hamilton Tiger-Cats NA Tim Hortons Field

[14]

Regular season

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The Redblacks had planned on hosting a number of themed home games during the season, one of which was scheduled to feature the unveiling of new red alternate jerseys July 24, 2020.[15]

Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent TV Venue
1 1 Fri, June 12 7:00 p.m. EDT vs. Toronto Argonauts TSN TD Place Stadium
2 2 Sat, June 20 10:00 p.m. EDT at Edmonton Football Team TSN Commonwealth Stadium
3 Bye
4 3 Thu, July 2 7:00 p.m. EDT at Montreal Alouettes TSN/RDS Molson Stadium
5 4 Sat, July 11 10:00 p.m. EDT at BC Lions TSN BC Place
6 5 Sat, July 18 7:00 p.m. EDT vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats TSN TD Place Stadium
7 6 Fri, July 24 7:00 p.m. EDT vs. Edmonton Football Team TSN TD Place Stadium
8 7 Thu, July 30 9:00 p.m. EDT at Saskatchewan Roughriders TSN Mosaic Stadium
9 8 Thu, Aug 6 7:30 p.m. EDT vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers TSN TD Place Stadium
10 9 Sat, Aug 15 7:00 p.m. EDT at Hamilton Tiger-Cats TSN Tim Hortons Field
11 10 Fri, Aug 21 7:00 p.m. EDT at Montreal Alouettes TSN/RDS Molson Stadium
12 11 Thu, Aug 27 8:30 p.m. EDT at Winnipeg Blue Bombers TSN IG Field
13 12 Thu, Sept 3 7:30 p.m. EDT vs. BC Lions TSN TD Place Stadium
14 13 Fri, Sept 11 7:30 p.m. EDT vs. Montreal Alouettes TSN/RDS TD Place Stadium
15 14 Sat, Sept 19 4:00 p.m. EDT at Toronto Argonauts TSN BMO Field
16 15 Sat, Sept 26 7:00 p.m. EDT vs. Toronto Argonauts TSN TD Place Stadium
17 Bye
18 16 Sat, Oct 10 4:00 p.m. EDT vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders TSN TD Place Stadium
19 17 Fri, Oct 16 9:00 p.m. EDT at Calgary Stampeders TSN McMahon Stadium
20 18 Fri, Oct 23 7:00 p.m. EDT vs. Calgary Stampeders TSN TD Place Stadium
21 Bye

[14]

Team

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Roster

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Ottawa Redblacks roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Receivers

Fullbacks

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Suspended

Italics indicate American player • Bold indicates Global player • 104 Roster, 1 Suspended
Roster updated 2020-08-17 • Depth chart Archived 2019-06-03 at the Wayback MachineTransactions Archived 2015-07-30 at the Wayback MachineMore CFL rosters

Coaching staff

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Ottawa Redblacks staff
Front office
  • Owner – Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG)
  • Chief executive officer – Mark Goudie
  • General manager – Marcel Desjardins
  • Assistant general manager – Jeremy Snyder
  • Director of player personnel – Jean-Marc Edmé
  • Coordinator of football operations – Joey Swarbrick
  • Video coordinator – Colin Farquharson

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams coordinator – Bob Dyce
  • Special Team & Defensive back Assistant – Patrick Bourgon

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning coordinator – Nick Mercuri

Coaching Staff Archived 2014-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
More CFL staffs

References

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  1. ^ a b "Ambrosie issues statement on behalf of CFL". cfl.ca. April 7, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  2. ^ "CFL provides update regarding 2020". Canadian Football League. May 20, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  3. ^ "CFL not to play shortened season in the fall". Canadian Football League. August 17, 2020.
  4. ^ "Ottawa Redblacks part ways with head coach Rick Campbell". The Globe and Mail. November 4, 2019.
  5. ^ "Redblacks, Rick Campbell agree to part ways". cfl.ca. November 4, 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Emotional coach Rick Campbell says goodbye to Redblacks". Ottawa Sun. November 4, 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Paul LaPolice named Redblacks Head Coach". ottawaredblacks.com. December 7, 2019.
  8. ^ "CFL to hold global player combines in Europe, Mexico and, and Japan". press.cfl.ca. November 5, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  9. ^ a b "2020 CFL Draft". CFL.ca. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  10. ^ "Redblacks sign Nick Arbuckle". cfl.ca. Canadian Football League. January 31, 2020.
  11. ^ "CFL Draft to feature territorial picks". CFL.ca. April 17, 2019. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Key dates to circle on your calendar in 2020". CFL.ca. January 27, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  13. ^ "CFL Global Draft rescheduled as lead-in event prior to training camp". CFL.ca. March 24, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  14. ^ a b "2020 Ottawa Redblacks Schedule". Ottawa Redblacks. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  15. ^ "2020 Theme games". Ottawa Redblacks. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
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