Ottawa Redblacks won’t close door on Henry Burris despite hiring different president

Photo: Handout/Henry Burris

The Ottawa Redblacks were finally smiling when they introduced their new team president on Wednesday, but some were surprised not to see a familiar gap-toothed grin among them.

Hall of Fame quarterback Henry Burris, who led the Redblacks to a Grey Cup victory in 2016, was rumoured to be among the top candidates for the job when Adrian Sciarra stepped down in August. Instead, it was former CFL receiver Mike Morreale who emerged as the franchise’s new leader.

Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) CEO Mark Goudie confirmed that Burris was a finalist for the job during Morreale’s introductory press conference, noting that the decision to go in a different direction has not diminished his interest in reuniting with the legend in the future.

“I think I probably talked to 20-something people before I started the interview process. The candidates I had was in the low 20s. Spoke to probably a dozen or so, narrowed down to three, and Henry was in that group,” Goudie told reporters.

“I don’t wanna get into any personal conversations I’d had with Henry, but he was a very strong candidate. The conversation I had with him this week was that we’d love to find a way, and I think Mike shares this with me, we’d like to find a way to figure out how to bring Hank home and have him as part of the Redblacks. What that looks like, what that means, we’ll figure out down the road. But he is Mr. Redblack, so happy to continue that dialogue with Henry down the road.”

Burris joined the Redblacks as a free agent in 2014, becoming the franchise’s first quarterback in their inaugural season. He went on to play three seasons with the team, winning Most Outstanding Player in 2015 and leading them to two Grey Cup appearances. The native of Spiro, Okla., retired as a champion after earning the Grey Cup MVP in 2016 and was inducted into Ottawa’s Wall of Honour in 2017.

In an interview with Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun, Burris revealed that he had spoken with Goudie about the position of president on roughly six occasions and did extensive research on how he would manage the team. He wanted the job “badly” and believed things to be trending positively, until he was told otherwise.

“I expressed my disappointment. I definitely did. But it was in the moment, and I didn’t want to say something that I didn’t need to say,” Burris told the Sun. “I’m a competitor, and when you’re expecting something, and you get the word … my heart sank. My heart just dropped to the floor because I thought, with the way things were going, that this was all going to work out. It was unfortunate that it didn’t. When you get the final word, and it’s not your name, especially with the relationships that you had, it hurts. It definitely hurts.”

Morreale understands those sentiments, noting that he reached out to Burris after his hiring became official and was open to future collaboration.

“We’ve gone back and forth; we’re setting up a call. Obviously, I understand the pain comes from really wanting something bad and then just not seeing it through,” he said. “I can tell you I have a lot of respect for Henry. We’ve got a great relationship that goes way back. There’s a role for Henry Burris in this organization. The Redblacks are not the Redblacks without Henry Burris. That’s up to Henry now, and we’ll continue to talk and have those discussions, and I hope that he’s open to it. The door won’t close on Henry Burris. It just won’t happen. You build teams and franchises around individuals like that. I don’t expect that discussion to stop.”

Though he did not ultimately receive the job, Goudie indicated that Burris’ input throughout the process was of paramount importance as he began to formulate his own model for what a president should be and needed to accomplish.

“What I wanted to do is to understand what criteria I should be using to hire the next president. One of the first people I reached out to to kind of educate myself was Henry and asked him to help me think through and replay the last couple of years and what’s happened with Redblacks and some of the challenges we faced and why we’re where we are,” he said.

“Henry was interested in the job, and we spent a bunch of conversations talking through that. But before we got to that, Henry was helping me kind of think through football and talk about the importance of reconnecting with the community and all that stuff in Ottawa.”

Since retirement, Burris has worked in broadcasting, hosting CTV’s local morning show in Ottawa and appearing on the TSN panel. He later transitioned into coaching, spending time in the NFL with the Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Los Angeles Rams. The 51-year-old was most recently on staff at Florida A&M University, where he served as offensive coordinator and eventually acting head coach. He currently calls college football games for ESPN, co-hosts an NFL talk show on SiriusXM radio, and appears at events as a motivational speaker.

While Burris’ football acumen was never in doubt, Morreale adds a level of business acumen and experience that other candidates could not compete with.

“The football was primary in terms of what I wanted to be able to bring to this organization. Maybe not equally as important, but very important was the business side of things,” Goudie said.

“I love the fact that Mike ran a chain of how many restaurants once upon a time for 17 years or something like that, and has the scars that you only get from being in business. That’s a tough business to be in. Starting the (Canadian Elite Basketball League) from scratch; that is a monumental task. If you talk to people that follow the CEBL or are fans of the CEBL, it punched above its weight. That’s a really daunting thing to be able to do is build something.”

Burris has no qualms with Morreale’s resume, but believes he would have brought a unique insight to the role.

“I think he’s a great choice. But I know the backbone of the city. I know it inside and out, from the corporate side to the fan engagement. Those are things I’m up to date on. Look at all the connections I have in that city,” he told the Sun. “But it is what it is. They had criteria they wanted to adhere to, and that decision was made. But it’s just disappointing, especially with all that we’ve been through and what we’ve created, and I felt I played a pretty important role in helping generate that.”

If Goudie and Morreale are to be believed, Burris may play a different role going forward. There is a front office role position vacant due to the firing of vice-president of football operations Shawn Burke, and Morreale is actively evaluating the future of head coach and general manager Ryan Dinwiddie amidst a historically poor 1-16 campaign.

Either spot could be a fit for the 18-year CFL veteran, and he is willing to hear all offers, though Burris won’t return to Ottawa for just any role.

“I’m definitely going to listen to what they have to say. But it has to align with my family and what we’re trying to achieve,” he said. “I understand the value that I bring to the table, and that value has to be met because, as much as I love both my family and the Redblacks, I go to bed with one at night and the other one I don’t.”

The Ottawa Redblacks (1-16) will visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5-12) at Hamilton Stadium on Saturday, October 24, with kickoff scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET. The Redblacks are coming off a dramatic win over the Toronto Argonauts that ended their 22-game losing skid, while the Tiger-Cats were on bye this past week.

The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on TSN 1200 in Ottawa and the Ticats Audio Network in Hamilton.