Toronto Argonauts senior advisor Jim Barker will be leaving the organization and returning to the CFL on TSN panel, according to a report from Sportsnet’s Arash Madani.
While no official announcement has been made by either party, TSN listed Barker as one of their draft-day analysts alongside Duane Forde, Marshall Ferguson, and host Farhan Lalji on the official programming release. On Friday, he published a top prospects list on the broadcaster’s website, all but confirming that he won’t be in Toronto’s war room.
The 66-year-old was hired by Argonauts ahead of the 2022 season, helping to fill the front office void left by the suspension and termination of vice president of player personnel John Murphy. It marked Barker’s third stint with the organization, having previously served as the team’s offensive coordinator from 1997 to 1998, head coach in 1999 and from 2010 to 2011, and general manager from 2011 until 2016. Toronto’s victory in the 109th Grey Cup marked his third championship as a member of the organization and fifth overall.
Barker first joined TSN as an analyst in 2018, following his firing as Argos GM. He returned to the front office with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2019 as a football operations consultant and offensive assistant but was not retained following the cancelled 2020 season. He again joined the CFL on TSN panel in 2021, before landing back with Toronto.
The native of Pasadena, Cal. has previously spent time as an assistant with the Montreal Alouettes and as head coach and general manager of the Calgary Stampeders. He has a 29-43 career record as a coach and a 77-84-1 record as a GM.
