Lions announce eight additions to coaching staff; Pierce to hold OC title
01/02/2025 12:41 PM
VANCOUVER — The BC Lions coaching staff for 2025 is taking shape.
Lions general manager Ryan Rigmaiden and head coach Buck Pierce announced on Thursday eight additional members of the club's coaching staff for the upcoming season, including Mike Benevides (defensive coordinator), Cory McDiarmid (special teams coordinator), Kevin Bourgoin (wide receivers coach), Paul Charbonneau (offensive line coach), Ryan Phillips (secondary coach, pass game coordinator), Randy Melvin (defensive line coach), Glen Young (linebackers coach), Derek Oswalt (assistant coach).
The team also announced that Pierce will hold the title of offensive coordinator while a running backs coach will be hired in the coming weeks.
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Benevides enters his 15th season with the organization (2003-14, 2023-present) in the role he held for the squad from 2008-12, a run that featured 11 All-CFL players on defence plus a second consecutive Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award for Cam Wake (2008).
Bene' served as the Lions' 26th head coach from 2012-14 and won 33 regular season games, good for sixth on the club's all-time list. A three-time Grey Cup champion (2001, 2006, 2011), Benevides also served as defensive coordinator in Ottawa (2021-22) and Edmonton (2016-18).
The Toronto native also had the role of special teams coordinator with the Lions (2003-07, 2023-24) and began his CFL career with the Calgary Stampeders (2000-02) serving as a defensive assistant, linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.
McDiarmid returns to the Lions after beginning his CFL coaching career in the den from 2000-02. A Grey Cup champion in his first season, the Nanaimo native worked with the Lions running backs and special teams units.
He is coming off a stint as special teams coordinator with the Ottawa REDBLACKS (2022-24) and held the same role in Toronto (2019-20), Edmonton (2016-18) and Winnipeg (2006-08).
McDiarmid also served as assistant head coach/defensive coordinator with the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and won a Vanier Cup on the UBC Thunderbirds staff in 1997.
Bourgoin spent the last eight seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers; first as running backs coach (2016-19) and then as receivers coach (2021-24). During his stint coaching the running backs, Andrew Harris won the CFL's rushing title three straight years and captured CFL Most Outstanding Canadian in 2018.
A two-time Grey Cup champion (2019,2021), Bourgoin's time as receivers coach saw Dalton Schoen win CFL Most Outstanding Rookie while Kenny Lawler and Nic Demski also recorded 1,000 plus-yard seasons.
Bourgoin began his coaching career at Colby College in 1997 and had a stint at the University of Maine from 2007-16, serving as offensive coordinator/ quarterbacks coach and then assistant head coach.
Charbonneau served as offensive line coach with the Ottawa REDBLACKS for the past three seasons while holding the same position with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2014-15) and Montreal Alouettes (2016-17). After his time in Montreal, Charbonneau was the offensive line coach at Lindenwood University-Belleville (NAIA) before coaching running backs at Washington University in St. Louis (NCAA) and then becoming co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Roosevelt University (NAI).
Charbonneau began his coaching career at the University of North Dakota (2006-09), working with the school’s offensive line and tight ends. From there, he moved on to the role of offensive line coach at Valley City State University and then assistant head coach at Avila University before his return north of the border.
Phillips is back for a sixth season on the coaching staff and 17th overall with the organization. During his stint as defensive coordinator (2022-24), Mathieu Betts won the CFL Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award in a 2023 season where the defence recorded two shutout victories, something that hadn't happened since the 1970 Calgary Stampeders accomplished the feat.
The Seattle native and Eastern Washington alum joined the Lions as a player in 2005 and enjoyed a stellar 12-year run in orange and black. A two-time Grey Cup champion and four-time All-CFL, Phillips' 47 interceptions are second on the all-time list behind Larry Crawford.
Melvin returns for a third go-around as Lions defensive line coach after serving in the role for the 2011 Grey Cup championship season and again in 2018. Melvin's first stint with the Lions saw Aaron Hunt, Khalif Mitchell and Keron Williams earn All-CFL selections.
Melvin most recently was the defensive line coach with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2019-23) and appeared in the Grey Cup in each of his first two seasons in Steeltown.
A veteran of nearly 40 years in the coaching fraternity, Melvin was part of Bill Belichick's Super Bowl-winning staff in New England in 2001 as defensive line coach while also holding the same position with the Cleveland Browns (2005-08) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2012-13.
The Aurora, Illinois native has also held several coaching positions in US Colleges including Eastern Illinois (1988-94), Wyoming (1995-96), Purdue (1997-99), Temple (2000) and Rutgers (2010).
Young, the native of Scarborough, ON joins the Lions after a stint as defensive line coach with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last season. Young also served as defensive coordinator of the Toronto Argonauts in 2021 following a four-year run as defensive line coach in Winnipeg.
Young was selected by Hamilton in round three (22nd overall) of the 1992 CFL Draft and spent five seasons in the NFL, highlighted by a stint in San Diego from 1994-96 where he served as special teams captain and helped the Chargers reach Super Bowl XXIX against San Francisco. The linebacker returned north to suit up with Toronto (1998-00), Montreal (2001) and Edmonton (2002-05). Before returning to the CFL as a coach, Young was a graduate assistant at Michigan State and the defensive coordinator at Brockport University.
Oswalt returns for a fourth season with the Lions after holding the title of video coordinator and special teams assistant in 2024 while also assisting team brass in preparation for the Global Draft.
Oz was previously on staff with the Edmonton Elks in a variety of roles from 2018-21 and began his CFL coaching career in Ottawa from 2014-17.
He also had stints down south at Louisville (2004-07) and Fairmont State (2013).
