The 2021 BC Lions season was the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and their 67th overall. The Lions failed to improve upon their 5–13 record from 2019 and were eliminated from playoff qualification on November 12, 2021, following a week 15 loss to the Calgary Stampeders.[1]

2021 BC Lions season
General managerRick Campbell
Neil McEvoy
Head coachRick Campbell
Home fieldBC Place Stadium
Results
Record5–9
Division place4th, West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Team MOPLucky Whitehead
Team MOCBoseko Lokombo
Team MORJordan Williams
Uniform

The 2021 CFL season was the first season with Rick Campbell as the team's head coach.[2] Campbell will also perform general manager duties alongside co-general manager Neil McEvoy following the resignation of former general manager Ed Hervey.[3]

The Lions held their training camp at Hillside Stadium in Kamloops, British Columbia for the 11th consecutive season.[4][5]

An 18-game season schedule was originally released on November 20, 2020, but it was announced on April 21, 2021 that the start of the season would likely be delayed until August and feature a 14-game schedule.[6][7] On June 15, 2021, the league released the revised 14-game schedule with regular season play beginning on August 5, 2021.[8]

Offseason

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General manager

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On October 16, 2020, the team's general manager, Ed Hervey, announced his resignation for personal reasons.[9][10] There had been speculation that his departure from the organization was related to the grievance filed by starting quarterback Mike Reilly who was guaranteed $250,000 in 2020, despite the season being cancelled.[11] However, this was never confirmed and the Lions eventually reached an agreement to re-structure Reilly's contract.[11][12]

On December 7, 2020, it was announced that head coach Rick Campbell and director of football operations Neil McEvoy were promoted to co-general managers.[3]

CFL Global Draft

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The 2021 CFL Global Draft took place on April 15, 2021.[13][14] The Lions won the draft lottery and selected first overall. With the format being a snake draft, the Lions selected first in the odd-numbered rounds and last in the even-numbered rounds.[13]

Round Pick Player Position University/Club Team Nationality
1 1 Jake Ford P Ouachita Baptist   Australia
2 18 Bo Qiao Li DL Charleston   China
3 19 Takeru Yamasaki K Elecom Kobe Finies   Japan
4 36 Niklas Gustav DL Morningside   Germany

CFL National Draft

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The 2021 CFL Draft took place on May 4, 2021.[15] The Lions had five selections in the six-round snake draft and had the fourth pick in odd rounds and the sixth pick in even rounds.[16] The team traded its fourth-round selection to the Toronto Argonauts after trading Davon Coleman in exchange for Shawn Lemon.[16][17]

Round Pick Player Position School Hometown
1 4 Daniel Joseph DL North Carolina State Toronto, ON
2 15 Alaric Jackson OL Iowa Windsor, ON
3 22 Ben Hladik LB British Columbia Vernon, BC
5 40 Alfred Green DL Wilfrid Laurier Ajax, ON
6 51 Tyler Packer OL Calgary Calgary, AB

Preseason

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Due to the shortening of the season, the CFL confirmed that pre-season games would not be played in 2021.[8]

Planned schedule

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Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent TV Venue
A 1 Sun, May 23 1:30 p.m. PDT at Calgary Stampeders NA McMahon Stadium
B Bye
C 2 Fri, June 4 7:00 p.m. PDT vs. Edmonton Elks NA BC Place

[18]

Regular season

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Standings

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Team GP W L T Pts PF PA Div Stk
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 14 11 3 0 22 351 187 8–1 L2 Details
Saskatchewan Roughriders 14 9 5 0 18 290 285 5–4 L1 Details
Calgary Stampeders 14 8 6 0 16 315 263 6–4 W3 Details
BC Lions 14 5 9 0 10 313 351 2–7 W1 Details
Edmonton Elks 14 3 11 0 6 246 377 2–7 L1 Details

Schedule

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The Lions initially had a schedule that featured 18 regular season games beginning on June 12 and ending on October 29.[6] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the Canadian Football League delayed the start of the regular season to August 5, 2021 and the Lions will begin their 14-game season on August 6, 2021.[8]

Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent Results TV Venue Attendance Summary
Score Record
1 1 Fri, Aug 6 6:30 p.m. PDT @ Saskatchewan Roughriders L 29–33 0–1 TSN Mosaic Stadium 33,350 Recap
2 2 Thurs, Aug 12 6:30 p.m. PDT @ Calgary Stampeders W 15–9 1–1 TSN/RDS2 McMahon Stadium 21,029 Recap
3 3 Thurs, Aug 19 7:00 p.m. PDT Edmonton Elks L 16–21 1–2 TSN/ESPN2 BC Place 12,500 Recap
4 4 Sat, Aug 28 4:00 p.m. PDT @ Ottawa Redblacks W 24–12 2–2 TSN/RDS TD Place Stadium 15,000 Recap
5 Bye
6 5 Sat, Sept 11 7:00 p.m. PDT Ottawa Redblacks W 45–13 3–2 TSN/RDS BC Place 12,552 Recap
7 6 Sat, Sept 18 4:00 p.m. PDT @ Montreal Alouettes W 27–18 4–2 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 13,591 Recap
8 7 Fri, Sept 24 7:30 p.m. PDT Saskatchewan Roughriders L 24–31 4–3 TSN/ESPN2 BC Place 12,500 Recap
9 8 Fri, Oct 1 7:00 p.m. PDT Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 9–30 4–4 TSN/ESPNews BC Place 12,500 Recap
10 Bye
11 9 Sat, Oct 16 4:00 p.m. PDT Calgary Stampeders L 10–39 4–5 TSN BC Place 12,500 Recap
12 10 Sat, Oct 23 4:00 p.m. PDT @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 0–45 4–6 TSN IG Field 23,750 Recap
13 11 Sat, Oct 30 1:00 p.m. PDT @ Toronto Argonauts L 29–31 (OT) 4–7 TSN BMO Field 9,011 Recap
14 12 Fri, Nov 5 4:00 p.m. PDT @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 18–26 4–8 TSN/RDS Tim Hortons Field 21,618 Recap
15 13 Fri, Nov 12 7:30 p.m. PST Calgary Stampeders L 23–33 4–9 TSN BC Place 12,500 Recap
16 14 Fri, Nov 19 7:30 p.m. PST Edmonton Elks W 43–10 5–9 TSN BC Place 12,500 Recap

[19][20][21]

 #  Games played with colour uniforms.
 #  Games played with white uniforms.

Team

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Roster

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BC Lions roster
Quarterbacks

Receivers

Running backs

Fullbacks

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

1-game Injured list

6-game Injured list

Practice roster

Suspended

Italics indicate American player • Bold indicates Global player • 50 Active, 9 Injured, 8 Practice, 4 Suspended
Roster updated 2021-11-19 • Depth chartTransactions Archived 2015-07-30 at the Wayback MachineMore CFL rosters

Coaching staff

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BC Lions staff
Front office and support staff
  • Owner – Amar Doman
  • President and ceo – Rick LeLacheur
  • Vice President, Business – George Chayka
  • General managers – Rick Campbell and Neil McEvoy
  • Director of football operations – Neil McEvoy
  • Director of us scouting – Ryan Rigmaiden
  • Director of canadian scouting & cfl draft coordinator – Rob Ralph
  • Director of global scouting and us regional scout – Geroy Simon
  • Video coordinator – Andrew Millin
  • Head athletic therapist – Tristan Sandhu
  • Equipment manager – Aaron Yeung
 

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Coaching Staff
More CFL staffs

References

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  1. ^ "Stamps down Lions to clinch playoff berth". Canadian Football League. November 12, 2019.
  2. ^ "Lions officially name Rick Campbell head coach". Canadian Football League. December 2, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "B.C. Lions coach Rick Campbell, football ops director Neil McEvoy to share GM role". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. December 7, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  4. ^ "Lions To Hold Training Camp In Kamloops Through 2020". BC Lions. July 26, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  5. ^ "B.C. Lions, City of Kamloops roll training camp contract over to 2021; no camp in Kamloops this year". kamloopsthisweek.com. April 21, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Divisional games take centre stage in unique 2021 schedule". Canadian Football League. November 20, 2020.
  7. ^ "CFL Announces Plans To Return-to-play For 2021 Season". Canadian Football League. April 21, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "Circle your calendars: CFL releases 2021 schedule". Canadian Football League. June 15, 2021.
  9. ^ "Ed Hervey steps down as Lions GM, cites personal reasons". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. October 16, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  10. ^ "Hervey steps down as Lions' general manager". Canadian Football League. October 16, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Farhan Lalji: 'I absolutely believe this was tied to Ed (Hervey)'s departure from the club'". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. November 11, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  12. ^ "Mike Reilly, Lions reach contract settlement as QB signs two-year deal". BC Lions. December 16, 2020.
  13. ^ a b "CFL calendar busy with free agency, virtual combines, drafts". Canadian Football League. February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  14. ^ "2021 Global Draft tracker". Canadian Football League. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  15. ^ "CFL announces date for 2021 CFL National Draft". cfl.ca. Canadian Football League. March 30, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Ti-Cats snag first selection as CFL reveals 2021 order". Canadian Football League. November 21, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  17. ^ "Lions acquire Shawn Lemon, Argos land all-star Davon Coleman in trade". Canadian Football League. August 12, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  18. ^ "2021 BC Lions Schedule". BC Lions. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  19. ^ "2021 Schedule". Canadian Football League. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  20. ^ "Nos émissions" (in French). Réseau des sports. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  21. ^ "ESPN, Upcoming". ESPN. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
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