OTTAWA — The Ottawa Redblacks have tasked Shawn Burke with turning around their struggling franchise.
The CFL team named Burke its new general manager on Sunday, a month after finishing a disappointing 3-11 season.
"Today, we begin a new era of Redblacks football," team president and CEO Mark Goudie said in a release.
A native of Guelph Ont., Burke comes to Ottawa after nearly 15 years with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, most recently serving as senior director of player personnel and co-manager of football operations for the 2021 East Division champions.
Goudie said the Redblacks ran an inclusive and in-depth GM search "that showcased the high calibre of football minds in our game."
Marcel Desjardins was fired as general manager in October, and Jeremy Snyder acted as interim GM until season's end.
Ottawa opened the 2021 season with a 16-12 win over the Edmonton Elks, but then lost five in a row before beating the Elks again. The Redblack didn't win again until the regular-season finale, a 19-18 victory over the Montreal Alouettes.
Ottawa posted a 2-16 record in its expansion year before going 12-6 the following season en route to losing to Edmonton in the Grey Cup final. The Redblacks then ended a 40-year Grey Cup drought in Ottawa in 2016, beating the Calgary Stampeders 39-33 in the CFL championship game.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2021.
The Canadian Press
