The

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) ( French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Startin ...

season was scheduled to be the seventh season for the team in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. This would have been the first season for

Paul LaPolice Paul LaPolice (born June 12, 1970) is a gridiron football coach who was most recently the head coach for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a two-time Grey Cup champion as an assistant coach, most recently in 107th ...

as the team's

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

and the seventh season with

Marcel Desjardins Marcel Desjardins (born May 19, 1966) is the former general manager for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He has also served as the General Manager for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for two seasons. He is a four time Grey Cup ...

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. Training camps, pre-season games, and regular season games were initially postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa The COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa is part of the global ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a Novel virus, novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Ottawa is the 4 ...

. The CFL announced on April 7, 2020 that the start of the 2020 season would not occur before July 2020. On May 20, 2020, it was announced that the league would likely not begin regular season play prior to September 2020. On August 17, 2020 however, the season was officially cancelled due to COVID-19.

Offseason

Personnel changes

Three days following the conclusion of the 2019 season, on November 4, 2019,

Rick Campbell Rick Campbell (born December 20, 1970) is an American-born Canadian football head coach and co-general manager for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. He was the Calgary Stampeders' defensive coordinator from 2012 to 2013 and was also an ...

announced that he was stepping down as head coach of the Redblacks. In a press conference, Campbell explained that he had become disappointed that several former players left the team feeling underappreciated and dejected and that he had a strained relationship with the team's general manager, Marcel Desjardins. Campbell left the Redblacks with a record over six seasons with one

Grey Cup championship The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

in three appearances. He had one year remaining on his contract that OSEG agreed to pay out over five years. On December 7, 2019, it was announced that

had agreed to a three-year contract to become the head coach of the

. He was most recently the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

for the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

from

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, including the

107th Grey Cup The 107th Grey Cup decided the champion of the 2019 season in the Canadian Football League (CFL). The match was played on November 24, 2019, between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. Wi ...

championship. He has also served as head coach of the Blue Bombers from

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

while compiling a record.

CFL National Draft

The 2020 CFL National Draft took place on April 30, 2020. By virtue of recording the worst record in the league in

, the Redblacks had the first selection in each round, not including traded picks. After trading for the rights to

Nick Arbuckle Nicholas Arbuckle (born October 4, 1993) is a professional Canadian football quarterback for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He has also been a member of the Calgary Stampeders, Ottawa Redblacks, Toronto Argonauts, and ...

and re-signing him, the Redblacks swapped first-round picks with the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

and also sent them a third-round pick. The team also gained a territorial selection after finishing in the bottom two of the previous year's standings.

CFL Global Draft

The

2020 CFL Global Draft The 2020 CFL season would have been the 67th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it would have been the 63rd season of the Canadian Football League. It was originally scheduled to begin on June 11; on April 7, the start of the s ...

was scheduled to take place on April 16, 2020. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, this draft and its accompanying combine were postponed to occur just before the start of training camp, which was ultimately cancelled. The Redblacks were scheduled to select first in each round with the number of rounds never announced.

Planned schedule

Preseason

Regular season

The Redblacks had planned on hosting a number of themed home games during the season, one of which was scheduled to feature the unveiling of new red alternate jerseys July 24, 2020.

Team

Roster

Coaching staff

References

External links

* {{Ottawa Redblacks seasons 2020 Canadian Football League season by team Ottawa Redblacks seasons 2020 in Ottawa 2020 in sports in Ontario