The Ottawa Redblacks have announced their coaching staff in advance of the 2025 CFL season, and six newcomers have joined the team.
Two of the new faces aren’t all that new, with Rick Campbell returning as special teams coordinator and Mike Gibson coming back as offensive line coach.
Campbell replaces Cory McDiarmid manning the special teams after spending the last four years serving as head coach and co-general manager of the B.C. Lions, leading the team to a pair of West Final appearances. A native of Spokane, Wa., was the first head coach in franchise history back in 2014 and led them to their first Grey Cup in 2016, and would see the team to another appearance in 2018.
Gibson takes over the offensive line from Pat Perles and is no stranger to the nation’s capital and to the CFL at large. The McKeesport, Pa. product is back in Ottawa after serving as their offensive coordinator in 2014, before becoming head coach of the Regina Rams in 2015. He’d go on to spend two seasons with Edmonton as offensive line coach and run game coordinator, before adding assistant head coach to his title in 2019, and being hired by the Ticats as offensive line coach in 2020.
There will also be a new defensive coordinator in Ottawa as William Fields takes over from Barron Miles. Fields was promoted to co-defensive coordinator by the Toronto Argonauts ahead of the 2024 season, before claiming the vacant spot in Ottawa. In his first season with the added title, the McKeesport, Pa. native helped lead Toronto to their second championship in three seasons, forcing five turnovers against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to secure the 111th Grey Cup.
Kai Ellis (defensive line), Myron Lewis (defensive backs), and Isaiah Johns (coaching assistant) also join Ottawa’s staff.
Ellis makes his way to the CFL coaching ranks after spending more than a decade coaching college football south of the border. A product of Kent, Wa., he served as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Adams State from 2022 to 2023, after being hired as defensive line coach in 2018. Prior to that, Ellis was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Briar Cliff in 2017, after spending two years as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at West Hills Coaliga.
The 44-year-old played in the CFL for eight seasons, including two with the Ottawa Renegades.
Lewis joined the CFL coaching ranks in 2024, working alongside Fields and winning a Grey Cup as a defensive backs coach with the Argos. Prior to his time with the Double Blue, the Orlando, Fla. native worked as a coach at the BEST (Best, Engineering, Science, and Technology) Academy in Atlanta from 2018 to 2023.
Johns has worked with defensive backs at the University of Windsor, also earning the title of recruiting coordinator. The former University of Toronto defensive back has also served as linebackers coach and co-special teams coordinator for Team Ontario’s U16 program.
Bob Dyce heads into his third season as the team’s head coach, alongside returnees in offensive coordinator Tommy Condell, receivers coach Travis Moore, running backs coach Nate Taylor, and linebackers coach Deion Melvin with the added title of assistant head coach.
“I am delighted to continue working with Tommy, Travis, Nate, and Deion, and ecstatic about adding Will, Rick, Mike, Kai, Myron, and Isaiah to our staff,” said Dyce in a statement. “Our group contains a wealth of both experience and new blood, and we’re all excited to get back to work with our talented group of players to build on the positive growth we had last season.”
Dyce enters his third season as head coach after leading Ottawa back to the playoffs for the first time since 2018 last season and to their best-ever home record of 7-1-1. He was named interim head coach late in the 2022 campaign and was officially given the full-time position ahead of the 2023 season. A native of Winnipeg, Dyce arrived in the nation’s capital in 2016 as special teams coordinator and helped the club to their first Grey Cup championship that season.
Condell enters his second season as the Redblacks’ offensive play-caller after helping them finish second in passing yards (5,455) in 2024. He served as offensive coordinator of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 2019 to 2023, while also taking on the role of quarterbacks coach from 2020 on.
Moore is back in Ottawa after initially coaching the club’s receivers from 2014 to 2017. He helped the team to appear in two Grey Cups during that span, winning one in 2016 alongside Dyce and Campbell. Moore coached with Saskatchewan prior to beginning his second stint in Ottawa in 2023.
Taylor enters his third season with the Redblacks, all of which have been spent as running backs coach. The Montreal, Que. native and former defensive back for the Concordia Stingers was previously the offensive coordinator and receivers coach for the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees.
Melvin is back for a second season with the Redblacks and first with the added title of assistant head coach. He spent the previous four years as linebackers coach of the Roughriders, before arriving in the nation’s capital.
