B.C. Lions hire Dennis McKnight as special teams coordinator

Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym/RFB Sport Photography

The B.C. Lions have hired Dennis McKnight as their special teams coordinator, the team announced on Monday.

The 66-year-old most recently worked for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, joining the team as its special teams coordinator partway through the 2024 season. He remained on staff for 2025.

McKnight got his first CFL coaching job with Edmonton in 2007, where he coached running backs. He then served as Hamilton’s special teams coordinator in 2017 before moving to the role of offensive line coach in 2018 and 2019.

The native of Dallas, Texas spent 15 years coaching in the collegiate ranks, plus stops in the XFL with the Houston Roughnecks and Seattle Sea Dragons.

McKnight played along the offensive line for 11 seasons in the NFL, primarily as a member of the San Diego Chargers.

The Lions fired special teams coordinator Cory McDiarmid near the end of June. On July 1, the team told 3DownNation it had no timeline for hiring a replacement, stressing the importance of making the right hire.

The B.C. Lions (1-3) will visit the Edmonton Elks (4-1) at Commonwealth Stadium on Friday, July 17 with kickoff scheduled for 9:00 p.m. EDT. The Lions are coming off a bye week, while the Elks dominated the Ottawa Redblacks in a 40-17 win at home.

The weather forecast in Edmonton calls for a high of 29 degrees and sun. The game will be broadcast on TSN and RDS2 in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on 730 CKNW (English) or Sher-E-Punjab Radio AM 600 (Punjabi) in Vancouver or 880 CHED in Edmonton.