Ottawa RedBlacks name Rick Campbell head coach
Campbell was defensive co-ordinator of the Calgary Stampeders
The Ottawa RedBlacks have named Calgary Stampeders defensive co-ordinator Rick Campbell their first-ever head coach.
Campbell is a 15-year CFL coaching veteran but the Ottawa appointment would be his first as a head coach. Ottawa is scheduled to return to the CFL in 2014.
The son of legendary Edmonton Eskimos head coach and executive Hugh Campbell, Rick Campbell has spent three seasons on Calgary's coaching staff, the last two as the club's defensive co-ordinator.
“Rick is a coach who earned this opportunity,” said RedBlacks general manager Marcel Desjardins in a team news release.
“(He) did it right, learning his craft from some very good football men and I’m delighted to welcome him to the RedBlacks organization.”
"Right now my top priority is to help (the front office) prepare for the expansion draft and a very busy off-season," Campbell said in the news release.
"After that, it’s creating an environment for players and other coaches that’s all about football, establishing our team identity and winning games.”
RedBlacks owner Jeff Hunt told Ottawa Morning host Hallie Cotnam last week the team would have a head coach in place by the CFL’s expansion draft on Dec. 16.
Desjardins and his front office have been busy signing players before that expansion draft, which will allow them to pluck players from the league’s other eight teams.
Those five players include running back Jordan Charles from the NCAA’s Charleston Golden Eagles, who set Division II records for rushing yards in a half in his final game with 273.
He was cut from the Kansas City Chiefs’ training camp earlier this year.
The RedBlacks are scheduled to make their CFL debut when the season starts in June, playing out of a yet-to-be-named stadium at a renovated Lansdowne Park.