The Montréal Alouettes thwarted the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in that team's attempt at 3 Grey Cups in 4 seasons. The Alouettes had the second longest streak without a Grey Cup, winning the first title since 2010. Hamilton is waiting to win the Grey Cup for the first time in the 21st century; the wait extends back to 1999.
The CFL finally came to its senses and reinstated the balanced schedule. No more 4 Toronto-Hamilton games on the CFL schedule. Saturday playoff games are back once again, though the Grey Cup is on Sunday.
The BC Lions now have the second longest streak without a Grey Cup, dating back to 2011 when the Lions won on home soil. Turns out the 2024 Grey Cup will be at BC Place in Vancouver.
Feels like a lot of upheaval in the CFL off-season so let's go to the highlights:
Chad Kelly has been suspended for the 2024 pre-season and a minimum of nine further games by the CFL after an independent investigation into allegations against the Toronto Argonauts quarterback: https://t.co/dc3gaTvD5F
— CFL on TSN (@CFLonTSN) May 7, 2024
Quarterbacks
Ottawa upgraded the quarterback position by trading for the rights to quarterback Dru Brown from Winnipeg. The RedBlacks then signed Brown to a deal. Ottawa sent a 5th-round selection in the 2024 CFL Draft to the Blue Bombers.
McLeod Bethel-Thompson jumped from the CFL to the USFL to be closer to home. Now Bethel-Thompson is back up north, this time with Edmonton. Tre Ford is now the backup quarterback. The Edmonton Elks released quarterback Taylor Cornelius. The Elks game in Toronto will be more significant as a result.
Hopefully Toronto understood that the Argos would have to get on without Chad Kelly with the CFL completed its investigation. Cameron Dukes is the lead internal contender. The preseason and 9 regular season games suspension for Chad Kelly are a minimum with specific criteria for possible reinstatement into the league. More on this further down in our Miscellaneous section.
The Argos also signed Nick Arbuckle. The quarterback started out well with Calgary but has struggled since then.
Chris Streveler is back in Winnipeg and the CFL after 3 seasons in the NFL. The Blue Bombers had a backup opening with the loss of Brown to Ottawa.
QB Matt Shiltz, who had been in Hamilton, is now in Calgary.
Dane Evans, who had been the backup to Vernon Adams Jr. in Vancouver, has retired from football at the age of 30. His replacement with the Lions will be Jake Dolegala, who had been with Saskatchewan.
Coaches
The Saskatchewan Roughriders went outside the organisation and went young to hire Corey Mace, 37, as the new head coach. Mace won a Grey Cup as the defensive line coach with Calgary in 2018 and as defensive coordinator with Toronto in 2022. Mace's offensive coordinator in Saskatchewan is Regina native and former University of Regina Rams quarterback Marc Mueller, Mueller is 3 years younger than veteran quarterback Trevor Harris.
Former NFL and CFL punter Jon Ryan weighed in on his concern over the next Roughriders coach. Fortunately for Mace, Ryan approves of his hiring.
You might have thought Scott Milanovich would eventually be the head coach in Hamilton. The Tiger-Cats restructured its management structure with now former head coach Orlondo Steinauer focusing on the president of football operations role. Ed Hervey is the new general manager.
Milanovich replaced Tommy Condell as offensive coordinator. Ottawa hired Condell as its new offensive coordinator. Condell replaced Khari Jones.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers felt like the team needed to keep defensive backs coach Jordan Younger on the coaching staff. Younger is the new defensive coordinator, replacing Richie Hall, who will have an undefined assistant role.
"You just know there's gonna come a time where, if you don't make a move, you're gonna lose him (Younger) and I didn't want to get to that point," Winnipeg coach Mike O'Shea told the media via videoconference. "It's not an easy decision, obviously. You're talking about two guys that I have long-standing relationships with and value a lot, so to be able to have both on our staff was certainly what the aim was but you can't really guarantee that. I'm just so excited that Richie agreed to stay on."
Calgary and Saskatchewan had been a battle between the Dickenson brothers Dave (Calgary) and Craig (Saskatchewan). Dave hired Craig as a consultant with the coaching staff. Saskatchewan fired Craig Dickenson as head coach.
Key moves
Running backs on the move: AJ Ouellette from Toronto to Saskatchewan and William Stanback from Montréal to BC Lions.
The Toronto Argonauts signed former Calgary running back Ka'Deem Carey and former Winnipeg wide receiver Rasheed Bailey. Kurleigh Gittens Jr. went from Toronto to Edmonton in a trade.
Ottawa signed veteran wide receiver Dominique Rhymes after the Lions released him.
Calgary agreed to terms with all-star defensive back Demerio Houston while Ottawa signed American strong-side linebacker Adarius Pickett. Edmonton signed kicker Boris Bede. Toronto released Bede after signing Canadian kicker Lirim Hajrullahu.
Montréal released former returner Chandler Worthy. The Toronto Argos signed returner Janarion Grant. Hamilton brought back wide receiver Steven Dunbar Jr., who had been with Edmonton last year and started his CFL career with the Tiger-Cats in 2021.
You can catch up on free agent signings.
Victoria here we come! ⛴️
— BC LIONS (@BCLions) November 29, 2023
This season the @CFL Touchdown Series is making its way to Vancouver Island where we will host the @REDBLACKS at the Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, BC🏟️
MORE INFORMATION ➡️ https://t.co/MePBaO00Da#BCLIONS #RoarLikeNeverBefore pic.twitter.com/CcibhcKfRY
Touchdown Atlantic has shifted to Touchdown Pacific in Victoria. The BC Lions host Ottawa on Saturday, August 31 as part of the Labour Day Weekend at Royal Athletic Park. The stadium is about 2 km away from the water's edge in downtown Victoria. You do move uphill away from downtown but not nearly as steep as Halifax or St. John's.
Defections
Canadian defensive lineman Mathieu Betts, the CFL's most outstanding defensive player, jumped from the BC Lions to the Detroit Lions of the NFL. Montréal Alouettes receiver Austin Mack signed with the NFL Atlanta Falcons. The Las Vegas Raiders signed Tyreik McAllister after an outstanding year with Hamilton.
Retirements
Shawn Lemon has had an offseason to forget and remember. Lemon sat out waiting for a team to call him to play in 2023. Montréal finally said "oui" and got a Grey Cup championship as a result.
Lemon retires, which seemed to make sense. After the retirement, the CFL indefinitely suspended Lemon for betting on league games, including one the league says he played in. The league said an investigation showed Lemon bet on games in 2021 while with Calgary.
Then Lemon files an appeal and is practicing with the Alouettes. Lemon has played for Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, BC, and Montreal in his career.
The allegation is significant as Jontay Porter found out from the NBA. Lemon is a good player yet should not be playing if he is guilty.
Canadian offensive lineman Chris Van Zeyl hit 40 and decided to hang up the spikes after 15 seasons. Van Zeyl finished up in Hamilton but had played for Toronto.
Defensive end Charleston Hughes, 40, is now retired. Hughes played for Saskatchewan in 2022 but didn't suit up in 2023.
Long time Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat also retired.
Emmanuel "Manny" Arceneaux retired as a long-time wide receiver with BC, Saskatchewan, and Edmonton. Arceneaux finished his CFL career with 9,277 receiving yards, 645 receptions, and 58 touchdowns.
Simoni Lawrence retired from the CFL and is staying in Hamilton as a brand and community ambassador with the Hamilton Sports Group.
Canadian linebacker Hénoc Muamba is now a former CFL player. The 35-year-old was with Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Montreal, and Toronto. Muamba has been working on The Waggle podcast from the CFL with Donnovan Bennett and will likely be filling in on the CFL on TSN panel.
Veteran linebacker Larry Dean is done after 8 years in the CFL. Dean is now Saskatchewan's new player personnel coordinator in football operations.
We missed a few retired CFL players and you can catch up on those players.
Miscellaneous
The Winnipeg relatively new football stadium has been around long enough to get a second sponsorship. The original name was Investors Group Field, shortened to IG Field. Now that facility is known as Princess Auto Stadium. The stadium will host the 2025 Grey Cup.
Dave Thomas replaces Michael Ball as the play by play voice of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Ball had called games for the last 2 seasons, taking over for Derek Taylor when he went to call the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on radio.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders released defensive back Nic Marshall after the player had been arrested on a gun possession charge in Columbus, Georgia.
The Edmonton Elks no longer need to worry about the CFL football operations cap in terms of money owed to former coaches or personnel executives.
As for the Chad Kelly suspension, the league notes that "Mr. Kelly will be required to undergo confidential assessments by an independent expert and attend mandatory counselling sessions conducted by a gender-based violence expert. Both the counselling sessions and the assessments must be satisfactorily completed before the CFL will consider Mr. Kelly’s reinstatement. If he is unable to satisfactorily complete those sessions and assessments, the CFL reserves the right to modify his discipline."
The coach's lawsuit against Kelly and the Argos was settled this week through mediation.
The fact that the Toronto Argonauts fired the coach in question is disturbing. We will follow this story as it progresses.
Providing free access to more games than ever before. 💻
— CFL (@CFL) May 19, 2023
Introducing CFL+ and CFL Preseason Live!
LEARN MORE » https://t.co/zEJBgsGqqk#CFL pic.twitter.com/TF5hwx0VRn
The major drawback to CFL+ was being very live: no way to jump back and create a replay and no way to watch the game if you missed it for a wedding or a funeral. This year, CFL+ has playback capability up to 48 hours after the game. This can be helpful in watching the last 3 minutes of an exciting game.
The Canadian side has TSN and RDS while the American side has CBS Sports Network. The CBS Sports Network once again carries 34 CFL games for the U.S. cable audience, same as last year.
The new deal puts an emphasis on special games, such as the season opener tomorrow night in Winnipeg, Labour Day weekend games in Regina, Hamilton, and Calgary, as well as the Thanksgiving game in Montréal. The U.S. TV network will NOT carry Touchdown Pacific from Victoria. The U.S. TV schedule leaves out a lot of games in the fall as has every other U.S. TV schedule.
ESPN2 and ESPNews had 20 games in 2022. The stickler is no playoff games, especially the Grey Cup.
The CFL has had 8-minute wrapup videos for games you may have missed. The CFL app is still missing.
TSN keeps the same broadcast crews: Rod Smith and Dustin Nielson with Marshall Ferguson on play by play. Duane Forde and Glen Suitor with Matt Dunigan provide colour analysis. Farhan Lalji will call a few games, likely in Vancouver.
The CFL sideline reporters are as follows:
Matthew Scianitti (Toronto, Hamilton); Claire Hanna (Ottawa); Kenzie Lalonde (Montréal); John Lu (Winnipeg); Brit Dort (Regina); Ryan Rishaug (Edmonton, Calgary); and Farhan Lalji (Vancouver). Blake Price fills in for Lalji when the latter is on play by play.
The CFL on TSN panel is led by host Kate Beirness with Matt Dunigan, Davis Sanchez, and Milt Stegall with supplemental help from former CFL head coaches Jim Barker and Paul LaPolice as well as newly retired Henoc Muamba. Dave Naylor and Lalji will report CFL news.
The surprising news is that CTV will have exclusive CFL games at 3 pm Eastern on Saturday afternoons beginning September 7. There are implications that CTV will be more involved leading up to the Grey Cup.
On the radio side, the BC Lions are returning to 980 CKNW, the station that broadcasted Lions games from 1988-2003. The team had been on CKGO (730 AM), an all-traffic station. Corus owns both radio stations. Bob ‘The Moj’ Marjanovich and Giulio Caravatta are back for their 8th season.
The CFL on CTV (a fun phrase) is 7 exclusive Saturday afternoon CFL contests at 3 pm Eastern. This is every Saturday in September and October except for October 5. If you saw a 4 pm Eastern game on a Saturday afternoon, the time of the game will move up an hour and be on CTV, not TSN.
CTV and TSN will carry the East semifinal, East final, and the Grey Cup in Vancouver.
We doubt Canadians can stream those games on CTV.ca but that will be a good question in September.
Dutchy was a HUGE part of the rise of the CFL on TSN.
— CFL Super Late News ● (@CFLLATENEWS) May 16, 2024
When TSN started getting more traction and has more games, Dutchy as a CFL Live! host brought energy and excitement to the broadcasts.
His appearances live at Grey Cup weeks were always a highlight.
We miss you. pic.twitter.com/NZubep7D2G
Darren Dutchyshen was more a part of the CFL on TSN coverage than I was aware. I remember seeing him as part of the 2022 Grey Cup in Regina (he was from Saskatchewan). Booming voice and a great personality. Very much missed. If you believe in such a thing, you can imagine Dutch and Chris Schultz talking Canadian football.
2024 CFL preseason schedule
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
The 2024 Grey Cup will be at BC Place in Vancouver while Winnipeg will host the 2025 Grey Cup.
Montréal has gone the longest without hosting the Grey Cup. The last Grey Cup in La Belle Province was in 2008 at Olympic Stadium. The structure hosted the Grey Cup 6 times in 1977, 1979, 1981, 1985, 2001, and 2008.
The only other Montréal structures to host the Grey Cup were the Autostade (1969) and the Alouettes current stadium, Percival Molson Memorial Stadium (1931).
Montreal makes it 8 in winning the 2023 Grey Cup
2024 CFL preseason schedule
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
Our weekly previews start tomorrow.
Twitter captures: @CFLonTSN; @CFLLateNews
logo and photo credit: CFL
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