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 manager	Marcel Desjardins
Head coach	Paul LaPolice
Home field	TD Place Stadium
Results
Record	N/A
Division place	N/A, East
Playoff finish	Season cancelled
← 2019 Redblacks seasons 2021 →

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

Personnel changes

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

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

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

Preseason

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

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

Roster

Ottawa Redblacks roster

Quarterbacks -- Kevin Anderson  9 Nick Arbuckle -- Taryn Christion  4 Dominique Davis Running backs -- Anthony Coombs 32 John Crockett -- Timothy Flanders -- Jarvion Franklin 25 Brendan Gillanders -- Akeem Hunt -- Kenny Young III Receivers 14 Rafael Araujo-Lopes 87 Jaelan Austin 17 DeVonte Dedmon -- Jovon Durante 84 R.J. Harris -- Justin Hobbs 82 Wesley Lewis -- Ervin Philips -- Jalen Saunders -- Cortrelle Simpson 88 Brad Sinopoli 83 Jerminic Smith -- Shannon Smith -- James Tyrell 85 Guillermo Villalobos -- Joe Walker -- Malcolm Williams 86 Micah Wright		Fullbacks 89 Marco Dubois 45 Anthony Gosselin 22 Gabriel Polan Offensive linemen 68 Kai Absheer -- KC Bakker -- Tyler Catalina 51 Alex Fontana 64 Evan Johnson 65 Mark Korte 58 Jason Lauzon-Séguin 66 Nolan MacMillan 56 Alex Mateas -- Jamar McGloster 67 Daniel Omara 57 Andrew Pickett -- Na'ty Rodgers -- Tanner Secord 61 DeVondre Seymour -- Darrell Williams Jr.		Defensive linemen 78 Samson Abbott -- Patrick Afriyie -- Johnny Dwight 98 Avery Ellis -- Connor Flagel 97 Thomas Grant 91 Darius Jackson 93 Shaneil Jenkins -- Cleyon Laing 76 Chris Larsen 49 Ettore Lattanzio -- Clement Lebreux 95 Danny Mason 99 Kene Onyeka 47 Nigel Romick 96 Michael Wakefield -- Charles Williams Linebackers 31 Kevin Brown 39 Mickael Côté 35 Jerod Fernandez 33 Denzel Johnson -- Junior Joseph 41 De'Andre Montgomery -- Christophe Mulumba-Tshimanga -- Dwayne Norman 43 Shaheed Salmon -- Don Unamba 42 Avery Williams		Defensive backs 27 Sherrod Baltimore -- Kalon Beverly 20 Jean-Philippe Bolduc 38 Brandin Dandridge -- Lashard Durr  2 Randall Evans 37 DeAndre Farris -- Ironhead Gallon 30 Nate Hamlin 34 De'Chavon Hayes 21 Justin Howell -- David Jones -- Jocquez Kalili -- Abdul Kanneh -- Dagogo Maxwell -- Corey Moore -- Brad Muhammad  6 Antoine Pruneau -- Delvon Randall -- Marcus Roberson 28 Corey Tindal Special teams 50 Louis-Philippe Bourassa LS 70 Gabriel Ferraro K 13 Richie Leone P 16 José Maltos K/P 10 Lewis Ward K Suspended 67 Colin Buchanan OL
Italics indicate American player • Bold indicates Global player • 104 Roster, 1 Suspended Roster updated 2020-08-17 • Depth chart 2019-06-03 at the Wayback Machine • Transactions 2015-07-30 at the Wayback Machine • More CFL rosters

Coaching staff

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 Head coach – Paul LaPolice Offensive coaches Receivers – Alex Suber Offensive line – Bob Wylie Quarterbacks – Steve Walsh Running backs – Charlie Eger			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Mike Benevides Defensive line – Carey Bailey Linebackers – Chris Tormey Defensive backs – Greg Knox 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 2014-11-13 at the Wayback Machine → More CFL staffs

References

1. "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. "Emotional coach Rick Campbell says goodbye to Redblacks". Ottawa Sun. November 4, 2019.
7. "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. "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. "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. "2020 Ottawa Redblacks Schedule". Ottawa Redblacks. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
15. "2020 Theme games". Ottawa Redblacks. Retrieved March 12, 2020.

External links

• Official website