Sports
The Lions fire head coach Campbell and complete Vernon Adams Jr trade
The BC Lions opened a new era on Wednesday with the announcement of two major moves. The Lions fired Rick Campbell, their head coach and co-general manager, and promoted Ryan Rigmaiden to general manager. Neil McEvoy, who has been the Lions’ Co-GM for the past four years, will now serve as 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,” stated President Duane Vienneau. “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.”
Rick Campbell was hired as the BC Lions’ head coach prior to the 2020 season, which was canceled. In 2021, BC finished 5-9 and missed the playoffs. A step in the right direction after the Lions finished 5-13 in 2019. In both the 2022 and 2023 seasons, the team finished 12-6 in the regular season, advanced to the Western Semi-Final at home, and lost the Western Final on the road to Winnipeg.
In 2024, the Lions finished 9-9 before falling 19-28 on the road to Saskatchewan in the Western Semi-Final. The Lions had high expectations in 2024, when they hosted the Grey Cup. Amar Doman, the Lions’ owner, was contributing resources as he allowed the team to go over the salary cap, making huge signings such as bringing back quarterback Nathan Rourke following Vernon Adams Jr.’s midseason injury and bringing back DE Mathieu Betts after his spell in Detroit.
“Our owner has given us all the tools we need to build this football team, I just don’t feel like we performed this year like we’ve performed in the last couple of years and sometimes you have to make a change to get to that next level.” BC Lions President Duane Vienneu stated at Wednesday’s Media Conference.
Despite the disappointing season for Campbell in BC this past year, he already has some interest from the Edmonton Elks who have been given permission to interview him per Farhan Lalji.
The Lions made another significant announcement, revealing that they intended to explore for a way to trade quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., who was the team’s starter to open the 2024 season.
“We’re going to start making those phone calls literally tonight and we’ll gauge that market.” stated General Manager Ryan Rigmaiden “He’s a tremendous quarterback. You guys know what kind of leader and what kind of personality he is. Anybody that isn’t firm on quarterback, I think is going to want to at least have a conversation.”
VA had a great start to the season, accumulating 2,395 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions in the first seven games, putting him on pace for the third most passing yards in a CFL season. Unfortunately, his eighth game was a poor effort, which resulted in an injury in a loss to Winnipeg. Adams started again in the Lions’ final regular-season game against Montreal, finishing 26 of 36 for 385 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. In the playoff loss, Adams Jr. completed 20 of 33 passes for 317 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions.
While VA is a high-level quarterback, BC might find it difficult to get significant value for him in a trade. 2024 was a year in which the depth of talent at the quarterback position in the CFL was on full display with the emergence of Davis Alexander in Montreal to Nick Arbuckle winning the Grey Cup MVP for Toronto. There are a lot of quarterbacks currently set to hit free agency this offseason who have played at high levels. With there potentially being many different options at quarterback for other teams it could be unlikely for a trade partner to want to send significant capital to BC knowing that the Lions need to get rid of Vernon Adams Jr. for salary reasons. He signed a hefty contract extension through 2026 with BC just last offseason.
Ryan Rigmaide was named the club’s 17th General Manager after serving as Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel for the previous three seasons. He worked with the Lions from 2013 to 2017, then for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as Director of College Scouting from 2018 to 2020. Rigmaiden began his career in the Arena Football League with the Spokane Shock in 2006 and advanced to the position of General Manager in 2010.
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