O'Leary: Lions, Elks create a possible wave of change

Yesterday at 02:00 PM

On Wednesday, we had press conferences taking place in Edmonton and in Vancouver, as the Elks announced the hiring of Ed Hervey as their GM and vice president of football operations and the BC Lions said goodbye to Rick Campbell, while making some front office moves.

Those two moves stand to create a ripple effect across the league. The Lions’ revamped front office of VP of football operations Neil McEvoy and GM Ryan Rigmaiden need to hire a head coach to replace Campbell. Hervey’s first order of business in the familiar offices of Commonwealth Stadium is to do the same.

Given the direction that Edmonton is going, plus the rumours and reporting we’re seeing, Campbell making a move back to Edmonton — the place he grew up while his father Hugh built the franchise into flagship of the league status — looks like a very natural fit.

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» Rick Campbell relieved of coaching duties in Lions’ front office shakeup
» Elks name Ed Hervey GM, VP of football operations
» O’Leary: Elks dig into their past to move forward

The #Elks have requested and been given permission from #BCLions to speak to Rick Campbell about their head coaching position.#Bombers have granted #TiCats permission to speak to AGMs Ted Goveia & Danny McManus about their vacant GM position. @CFLonTSN

— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) November 21, 2024

Hervey’s departure from his GM role in Hamilton leaves the Ticats searching to fill that void. As TSN’s Farhan Lalji reported on Thursday, that could impact the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ front office, as the Ticats will speak to Ted Goveia and Danny McManus about the job. McManus of course quarterbacked the Ticats to their last Grey Cup win, back in 1999, highlighting his eight-year stay in Black and Gold. He’s served as the Bombers’ assistant GM since 2014, while Goveia — a Burlington, Ont. native — came in with McManus and has served as Winnipeg’s director of player personnel.

The Bombers’ coaching staff could be impacted by these moves as well. Offensive coordinator and former Lions’ QB Buck Pierce is a reported lead candidate for the Lions’ head coaching vacancy, per Bob Marjanovich.

Other head coach candidates that Marjanovich mentions include Paul LaPolice and Orlondo Steinauer, who is currently serving as the Ticats’ president of football operations. Steinauer’s name continually came up during Grey Cup week in Vancouver, with a narrative that after a year in the front office, the former Coach of the Year winner (2019) missed the sidelines.

A Steinauer move would be another big splash that would create more ripples, but let’s not veer too far down a speculative road at this point. There are plenty of tangible situations out there that teams will be looking to address as they keep an eye on what’s happening in BC and Edmonton.

Remember that the Ottawa REDBLACKS are looking for a defensive coordinator after parting ways with Barron Miles after their season ended in the Eastern Semi-Final (conversely, Miles should be an in-demand coach and won’t be out of work long). Dave Dickenson is looking for a special teams coordinator, a defensive coordinator and a d-line coach after those three roles were opened up at the conclusion of their season. Mark Kilam, Brent Monson and Juwan Simpson should all land in new locations as the off-season unfolds.

In the midst of all of this change, there are some big names and great CFL minds looking for work.

Hervey’s hire means Geroy Simon could play into any pending front office changes that could be on the horizon. Simon served as the Elks’ interim GM after the team relieved Chris Jones — another name to keep an eye on as moves are made across the league — of his duties this season. Jarious Jackson stepped in as Edmonton’s interim head coach this year and went 7-6, doing everything he could to try to erase the team’s 0-7 start to the year. Jackson could be a fit in BC, where he’s spent eight years as a player, then worked as QBs coach in 2013 and served as OC in 2017 and 2018.

Then there’s the Lions’ coaching staff as it stood under Campbell. McEvoy and Rigmaiden said they’d look at internal candidates for their head coaching job, which could create a situation where that talented group could stay intact.

Offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymic — a St. Albert, Alta. native — might be a nice fit in Edmonton, if the Lions don’t promote him.

On TSN on Friday, Lalji said that both Maksymic and Kilam will interview with both BC and Edmonton for their head coaching vacancies.

Defensive coordinator Ryan Phillips served as assistant head coach and could be ready to make that next step in his career. Lalji also said that Phillips will get an interview with the Lions.

Meanwhile, if we’re talking local faces on that Elks staff, Tanya Henderson could be another good fit, after working as the Lions’ assistant defensive backs coach last year.

John Bowman, Kelly Bates, Jason Tucker and Travis Brown are former players turned coaches and can certainly fit into a number of coaching staffs, should they need to look outside of BC. Finally, there’s Mike Benevides, who worked as special teams coordinator in BC the last two years while wearing just about every hat a coach can in his 14 season with the Lions. An experienced coach that could be a fit in a number of spots on a coaching staff, he’d also have plenty of options if needed.

The expectation in Edmonton is that a coaching hire could happen quickly. When it does, expect pieces to start falling into place around the league. The Toronto Argonauts’ Grey Cup win is less than a week old, but the off-season is already racing into motion, pulling us into what should be a fascinating winter for the league.