2024, April 10th: "REDBLACKS hire Greg Marshall as Defensive Line Coach"

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS announced, today, that they have hired longtime CFL coach, and Ottawa Rough Riders great Greg Marshall as the team's Defensive Line Coach, ahead of the 2024 season. 

A native of Beverly, Massachusetts, Marshall most recently served as Head Coach at the University of Toronto from 2018 to 2023, and in 2021, guided the team to the postseason for the first time since 1995. Prior to his time with the Varsity Blues, the 67-year-old spent three years as Defensive Coordinator at Queen's.

Marshall is no stranger to the CFL coaching ranks, breaking into the league in 1994 as Defensive Line Coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He added a Defensive Coordinator title in 1996, before moving on to occupy the same two posts for Edmonton from 2000 to 2004. In 2005, Marshall served as Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator of the Ottawa Renegades, before running the defence and linebackers for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 2006 to 2008. He made his way to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2009, working as Assistant Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator, and Linebackers Coach for two seasons, before being hired as Head Coach of the Roughriders ahead of the the 2011 season.

As a player, Marshall enjoyed a decorated nine-season career as a defensive end in the CFL, after suiting up in two games with the NFL's Baltimore Colts. He spent his entire career north of the border in the nation's capital, earning CFL East All-Star honours from 1981 to 1984, and was named a CFL All-Star in 1981, and 1983, winning Most Outstanding Defensive Player in the latter year. He was honoured with a spot on the RNation Legacy Wall at TD Place in 2023.

Marshall was drafted in the seventh round, 186th overall, by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1978 NFL Draft, after playing his collegiate football at Oregon State.

Marshall was on radio the night he was hired and during the interview casually wondered if he was the first person to be involved with all three Ottawa pro football teams. 

It kind of brought a chuckle because he played with Joe Paopao in 1987 and was on Paopao's coaching staff with the Renegades. Paopao was also with the REDBLACKS in 2019. Goes to show that as fans, we sometimes have better recollection of these matters than players/coaches do. 

I'd actually meant to share content about Marshall's playing days last year when he was added to the stadium's wall of fame, but admittedly it fell off my radar.

I did find the image below from a November 1983 Ottawa Citizen. Neat to see some other familiar faces on there.  

Unless I have yet to locate it, the reaction to Marshall winning the Most Outstanding Defensive Player award was rather subdued. It seemed to consist of a paragraph or two in articles celebrating the group as whole.

Since we're talking about coaches, let's look at a couple of new faces added to the staff when it was  announces in mid-February.

Pat Perles (OL) returns to the CFL, after having previously worked as the Offensive Line Coach in Saskatchewan (1994-96), Winnipeg (1997), and Hamilton (1998-1999), winning a Grey Cup in his final year with the Ti-Cats. Perles was also a Defensive Assistant with the Los Angeles Rams from 1992-1993, and in 2009 joined the Kansas City Chiefs as a Defensive Quality Control Coach, before working as their Assistant Offensive Line Coach in 2010, and 2011. He has also spent time on the NCAA circuit, previously coaching at Toledo, North Dakota State, Syracuse, and Michigan State. 

Deion Melvin (LBs) joins the REDBLACKS for his first season with the club after spending the last four years as Linebackers Coach with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Prior to coming north of the border, Melvin’s coaching career began at East Aurora where he worked as a graduate assistant in the early 1990s. He would go on to coach at Western Illinois (1993 to 1998), Missouri State (1999 to 2005), Georgia Southern (2006), Bowling Green (2007 and 2008), Ball State (2009 and 2010) and Lindenwood University (2011 to 2016), before returning for a second stint at Western Illinois (2017 to 2019). In a coaching career that spans 30 years, Melvin has gained experience working with players in all three phases of the game.

Alex Suber also returns to the fold. 

Alex Suber is back for his fourth season with the REDBLACKS, but first since 2022, after spending the 2023 season as Cornerbacks Coach at Middle Tennessee State. The move followed four years in the nation's capital, where Suber served as Defensive Backs Coach from 2019 until 2022, when he took on the role of Receivers Coach. Before joining the REDBLACKS, Suber coached receivers at Murray State University, after spending time as Lyon College’s defensive coordinator. Suber wrapped-up his CFL playing career with 65 games played and 254 defensive tackles.

This, of course, is in addition to naming Tommy Condell offensive coordinator.

"REDBLACKS name Tommy Condell Offensive Coordinator"

OTTAWA - The Ottawa REDBLACKS announced Monday that veteran CFL coach Tommy Condell has been named the club's offensive coordinator. 

Condell, 52, has helped lead his teams to five Grey Cup appearances in the last decade and brings a wealth of CFL and collegiate experience to the REDBLACKS. Most recently, Condell spent four years as Offensive Coordinator for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, a position he held since he was promoted to the role in 2019 until the end of the 2023 campaign. In his first year as OC with the Tabbies, the team went 15-3 and reached the 107th Grey Cup. He added Quarterback Coach to his duties the following season. 

“Throughout the process of getting to know Bob Dyce, time spent exchanging values and beliefs of all things related to football and beyond, made this the ideal situation for myself and family,” said Condell. “The commitment that is tangibly shown in all areas by the Ottawa REDBLACKS and OSEG to bringing another Grey Cup championship to this great city was evident early on.”

The Utica, NY native joined the Argos as Receivers Coach in 2017 and won a Grey Cup championship that year. He was promoted to Offensive Coordinator in 2018. Prior to joining the Argos, Condell had his initial run with the Ticats as Offensive Coordinator and Receivers Coach, twice reaching the Grey Cup game while also losing to the REDBLACKS in the 2015 East Division Final. 

"We are excited to welcome Tommy and his family to Ottawa. The search process for an offensive coordinator was extensive and throughout it, Tommy’s name kept rising to the up of the list," said Head Coach Bob Dyce. "Not only were we impressed with Tommy's history of successful offensive production, but he has a proven ability to win at the professional level and play to the strength of his personnel. He has a track record of coming into teams and improving offenses, especially through explosive plays and red zone success."

This will mark Condell's second time coaching in Ottawa, having served as Quarterbacks Coach, Receivers Coach and Passing Coordinator with the Ottawa Renegades. Following a two-year stint in Ottawa and a year as Offensive Coordinator for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Condell again spent time coaching south of the border before returning to the CFL. 

Condell first coached in the CFL in 1997 when he was Special Teams Coordinator for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. His American collegiate coaching credits include time with the McNeese State Cowboys, Louisiana-Monroe Indians, Southeastern Louisiana Lions and Cornell Big Red. 

Aug. 17th, 2004: "Cruisin' For a Bruisin'"

Linebacker Kyries Hebert officially announced his retirement today, and did so as a Montreal Alouette, but he has the distinction of having played with two of Ottawa's franchises, something very few people can claim.

The article below is from his first year in the CFL. It took little time for him to make an impression. 

His playing career would conclude in 2018 with the REDBLACKS, a season in which he would contribute 47 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.  

2002, June 12th, Ottawa Citizen: "Renegades Set To Go Downtown" -

Obviously inspired by Eddie Brown being named the head coach of the Orleans Raftsmen Midget team earlier this week, I dug up the article below. It's from shortly after Brown joined the Ottawa Renegades training camp for that team's first season and provides a rundown of his colourful career.

He contributed 25 receptions for the Renegades in 2002 for 316 yards and a score before being released in early September. 

June 24th, 2004: Toronto Argonauts 10 @ Ottawa Renegades 20

In making small updates to various pages, I happened to notice that while I have several Renegades recaps posted, they are all from 2002 and 2003 so I thought I would throw one down from the highly-disappointing 2004 season.

Ottawa hosted the Grey Cup game that year. Some members of the Renegades ownership group decided this was a good opportunity to cash in to offset some earlier losses. The team went cheap as a result and so a 3-0 start to the regular season crumbled into a 5-13 record and the team on the outside looking in come playoff time.  This is the second of those initial three victories. 

Happy 20th Birthday to the Ottawa Renegades

I guess.

I ran into this completely by chance. I was actually looking to confirm uOttawa scores from the 2001 season. An article about the Gee-Gees' home game  against Laurier on October 13th made reference to Renegades co-owner Brad Watters being invited for a ceremonial kickoff. Clearly the franchise had only recently been awarded then, so I went back a few days and easily located the article from October 11th about the team's birth the previous day.

There was much more material but much of it was spent recapping the Rough Riders' history and reliving the team's painful final season in 1996. The former is mostly broad strokes and includes nothing that has not been covered here already and the latter is best moved on from so I have no particular interest in copying any of it. It does, however, speak to the level of interest at the time that the announcement ate up the first three pages of the sports section.

Sept 14th, 2002: Ottawa Renegades 26 @ Calgary Stampeders 12

Hey, have you heard? The consensus worst-team-in-the-league went to Edmonton and ran out with a win, much like Elks head coach Jaime Elizondo ran out on his former team in 2019.

The key play in Ottawa's victory was, of course, a 102-yard interception return for a touchdown by defensive back Abdul Kanneh. Following the play, one of the announcers (probably Glen Suitor, I can't recall for sure) made reference to a 109-yard interception return by Gerald Vaughn during his time with the Ottawa Renegades.

Sounds like a good reason to dig up that game summary. 

The photo above was taken by Colleen Kidd for the Calgary Herald. 

June 20th, 2003: Ottawa Renegades 27 @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats 17

There aren't many details to offer in regards to why this particular game summary is being posted today. Simply, I took a moment to add a few scores to the Renegades page from that season and decided to shine a spotlight on this season-opening contest. Any victory over Hamilton is a pleasure worth reliving anyway. 

I am reminded now that Hamilton went 1-17 that season and even that one victory very nearly eluded them.

The third-place-in-the-East Renegades still failed to make the playoffs because the fourth-place Western team (the BC Lions) crossed over and took their spot on the basis of having a better record. If not for that rule, Ottawa would have travelled to Toronto to play the 9-9 Argos, a team they were 2-1 against that year. Makes one wonder...

Aug 7th, 2003: "Backups Miller, Ranek Help Ottawa Rally, Upset Roughriders"

The 2005 Canada Day game gets more press but this was a hell of a game for the renegades too. I recall waiting for a confirmation on Kelly Wiltshire's interception to know whether I should celebrate a rare victory.

That 2003 Ottawa Renegades team held up strongly at home, if nothing else, and that's about all you can ask for of a second-year team.

They ended up out of the playoffs on the crossover rule but you know, the BC Lions took their spot with an 11-7 record to Ottawa's 7-11 so it's hard to bitch. Saskatchewan would prove to be an 11-7 team as well so this was a solid mid-season victory by Ottawa by all accounts. 

During and just after the 2003 season, there was still cause for optimism where the Renegades were concerned. The ownership group hadn't gone cheap yet waiting for their 2004 Grey Cup payout, twats that they were, so it seemed like the arrow was pointing up.

Mismanagement (team and league) at several levels bungled the whole damn thing but we can still look back fondly on the the accomplishments of Josh Ranek, Kelly Wiltshire and those other few who truly put in a strong effort while they were here and overcame a lack of leadership. This was such an example.   

2002: Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24 @ Ottawa Renegades 25

This is another game recap offered up as a post because it would have been an awkward fit on the team's basic info page.

The Renegades started their inaugural 2002 season with an overtime loss at home to Saskatchewan.

They travelled to Edmonton the next week and lost there 40-24. They had started strong in that game but it unraveled on them. 

Their third game was at home against a Winnipeg team that had accumulated a 14-4 record the previous year and lost the Grey Cup game to Calgary. There wasn't much reason for optimism and yet, somehow, the Renegades pulled it off.

The 'Gades were playing in Winnipeg the following week. I recall telling the Winnipeg fan sitting behind me to let Ottawa fans have their fun for a while because Winnipeg was going to murder the Renegades in the next game.

Sure enough, the Blue Bombers won that one 55-07. I was really just trying to be polite and sportsmanlike, I would have been perfectly happy with being wrong...

The Renegades only won three more games all year. Two of those were also only by one point including the last game in Montreal in which the Als were resting many of their better players for a playoff run. The four-win total was not particularly impressive but at the time it was considered respectable enough for an expansion team. 

Additions To The Carleton Ravens Hall of Fame

The Carleton Ravens page above has a list of football players and builders that have been named to the school's hall of fame. Two more names were added earlier today, one in each category, following an announcement by the school on September 29th. Both men have connections to the pro level in the city as well.

Cameron Legault is the player added. He was a defensive tackle from 1996 to 1998, the program's last season until its return in 2013.  He was a first-team All-Canadian selection in 1998 and has been named the school's athlete of the year.  

Legault was a second round draft choice in 1999. He played eight years in the Canadian Football League including one season in Ottawa with the Renegades in 2005.

The other HoF addition was John Ruddy. Ruddy played for the Ravens as a defensive back between 1970 and 1975 but he is inducted as a builder for his key contributions to restoring the Ravens program. Ruddy is also a member of the OSEG ownership group that brought pro football back in the form of the RedBlacks. 

Oh Yeah...The Renegades...

I've had a fair amount more time to dedicate to this hobby of late. This past weekend was spent trying to fill some gaps in the information that I've gathered to this point.

That usually means finding more details about specific games (especially high school and midget championships) or teams. Earlier today, I looked around the site and realized that I had info about the short-lived and obscure Ottawa Deacon Demons semi-pro team, about some long-dead high school programs, about a junior league that many never knew existed in the IJFL, and so on and so forth. And yet...Nothing about the Ottawa Renegades.

That might have been due to a mental block of some sort because most of my memories of the Renegades are actually quite lousy. I met some great people as a result of my interest in that team, but the 'Gades never made the playoffs in their four seasons and accomplished little more than to strengthen the perception of Ottawa as an irredeemable football market.

Looking back on them with hindsight is almost more irritating than living through it. The team had Kent Austin on its coaching staff and let him walk. Austin may not be among my favourites but he's certainly achieved some success (more so than Joe Paopao, anyway).

Current Ticats offensive coordinator and top head coaching candidate Tommy Condell was on the Renegades staff for two years as well. Less known is that they had Doug Nussmeier coaching quarterbacks in 2002. Nussmeier coaches tight ends for the Dallas Cowboys these days but he has been offensive coordinator and QB coach for Alabama, Michigan and Florida. Not too shabby.

It wasn't all bad though. The seven-win 2003 season included a few exciting games at home.

But the one game that would stand out to most fans of team, however, is the Canada Day miracle in 2005. I've tracked down the Citizen article about that game and share it with you below.

"Alouettes defensive back Reggie Durden breaks up a pass to Renegades running back Sean Bennett during the first half..." Jim Young, Reuters.

Watching the game later, it was still hard to understand how they managed to pull this off. They weren't exactly known to be a clutch bunch.

Fans starving for football success, naturally, were out of their minds. I recall hanging out with a bunch of them near the west endzone after the game when Lonie Glieberman walked by. Clearly uncomfortable near our group of intoxicated and loud celebrators, Lonie basically directed us to bother the cheerleaders instead and got out of there.

There isn't much to celebrate about the Renegades beyond that one game but in the spirit of completeness, I'll record their brief history as well at some point. Being that much of the information is available elsewhere and that they accomplished very little, they won't be a priority.