Former CFL playcaller Jaime Elizondo has interest in the University of Ottawa head coach position, according to Postmedia reporter Time Baines.
It’s believed former Ottawa Redblacks offensive co-ordinator Jaime Elizondo applied for the job, but so far has not gotten an interview.
Last April, Elizondo resigned from his role with the Redblacks and took a job on Marc Trestman’s Tampa Bay Vipers XFL staff as offensive coordinator and receivers coach. Trestman relinquished play-calling duties after losing to the Seattle Dragons in Week 2 and Elizondo took over. Following Elizondo calling the plays, Tampa Bay boosted their points per game average from six to more than 28 in the three weeks directing the offence.
The XFL lasted just five of the planned 10-game season before the COVID-19 pandemic hit hard. The league shutdown operations and laid off all employees while declaring bankruptcy. That left many including Elizondo without a job.
Elizondo came to Ottawa after time with the Toronto Argos as a receivers and quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. He spent the 2008 season as a receivers coach and special teams assistant in Montreal with the Alouettes while Trestman was head coach.
Trevor Harris had the two most prolific passing yardage totals under Elizondo including his first 5,000-yard season during the 2018 schedule. Harris left Ottawa in free agency during February 2019 to sign a $1.1 million contract with the Edmonton Eskimos.
The Argonauts and B.C. Lions interviewed Elizondo for their head coaching positions in December 2018. However, after Chris Jones left for a job with the Cleveland Browns in January 2019, Redblacks general manager Marcel Desjardins denied Saskatchewan’s request to meet with Elizondo regarding the Riders top coaching role.
Elizondo had been Ottawa’s offensive play caller for three seasons, helping the Redblacks win the Grey Cup in 2016. It seems as though Elizondo would like his next task to be guiding Ottawa to a Vanier Cup.
