The B.C. Lions parted ways with head coach and co-general manager Rick Campbell.
In a corresponding move, the Lions promoted Ryan Rigmaiden to general manager and moved Neil McEvoy to vice president of football operations.
“We thank Rick Campbell for playing a major role in bringing our franchise back to respectability and contention while navigating us through some very tough waters upon his arrival. He’s a great coach and a great friend,” Lions’ president Duane Vienneau said in a statement.
“We’re proud to have Neil and Ryan in their new roles with the preparation for 2025 already underway. Our goal remains the same: to be in Grey Cup contention every year.”
The Lions went 9-9 in 2024, losing to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West Semi-Final. Despite key additions that put them over the salary cap, the Lions struggled down the stretch and failed to reward owner Amar Doman’s investment with a home playoff game. Campbell was criticized for his handling of the quarterback situation, as his decision to stick with struggling mid-season addition Nathan Rourke once Vernon Adams Jr. recovered from a knee injury appeared to divide the locker room.
Campbell was hired as the Lions’ head coach on December 2, 2019, later adding the title of co-general manager. In four seasons at the helm, he has posted a 38-30 record, leading the team to two West Final appearances.
Prior to his time in B.C., the 53-year-old bench boss spent six seasons in control of the expansion Ottawa Redblacks. He led that franchise to three Grey Cup appearances, winning it all in 2016. Campbell has an all-time record of 82-92-2 as a head coach and was named the CFL’s Coach of the Year in 2015.
Rigmaiden rejoined the Lions in November 2020 and was promoted to his director of player personnel and assistant GM the following year. He previously served as the team’s director of U.S. scouting from 2014 to 2017, before spending two seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as their director of college scouting and winning a Grey Cup in 2019.
Prior to first joining the Lions as a regional scout in 2012, Rigmaiden served as general manager and director of player personnel with the Arena Football League’s Spokane Shock and won back-to-back league championships in 2009 and 2010.
McEvoy has been with the Lions continually since 1995, when he first joined the team in the ticket sales department. He has served as the team’s co-general manager alongside Campbell since 2021, having previously worked as the director of football operations.
Sources have indicated that Campbell could soon land on his feet in Edmonton, the same franchise where his father, Hugh, won nine Grey Cups as a coach and executive. Newly announced general manager Ed Hervey was the person who hired Campbell with the Lions.
