BC Lions fire head coach and co-GM Campbell as part of sweeping changes

Rick Campbell watches from the sideline during the second half of a BC Lions game in Vancouver on Saturday, October 15, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The B.C. Lions have fired head coach and co-general manager Rick Campbell.

The Lions also named co-general manager Neil McEvoy vice-president of football operations and promoted assistant general manager Ryan Rigmaiden to general manager.

The team made the announcement Wednesday, with president Duane Vienneau saying in a statement that Campbell brought the club "back to respectability and contention."

The move comes after a season where the Lions started 5-1, then lost five straight games and finished with a 9-9 record. B.C. made the playoffs, but lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the western conference semifinal.

Campbell, 53, joined the Lions in December 2019 following six seasons with the Redblacks, including the 2016 campaign where Ottawa won the Grey Cup.

He and McEvoy were made co-general managers ahead of the 2021 season after former GM Ed Hervey stepped down.

The COVID-19 pandemic postponed his first game with B.C. until 2021. The team went 38-30 record in regular-season play and 2-3 in playoff appearances over Campbell's four seasons at the helm.

After the Lions were ousted from this year's playoffs, Campbell told reporters every position within the club would be evaluated.

“There’s a lot of decisions to be made," he said. "I think there’s a lot of pieces here that are good. There’s a good foundation here. But we’re going to have to be really smart on the deletions and additions that we make to make us better.”

The coach added that he didn't expect to be looking for work over the off-season.

“I’m working and I’m doing my thing," he said. "I haven’t heard otherwise.”

Hailing from Spokane, Wash., Campbell grew up in Edmonton where his dad, Hugh Campbell, coached the Eskimos to five straight Grey Cups between 1978 and 1982.

Rick Campbell went to Washington State, then worked as a graduate assistant at the University of Oregon before taking on the role of defensive backs coach with the Eskimos in 1999.

He also held coaching roles with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Calgary Stampeders before joining the Redblacks in 2014.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.