On October 25th, 2021 the Ottawa REDBLACKS announced they relieved long-time general manager Marcel Desjardins of all duties.

Desjardins was the first staff member hired by the expansion team REDBLACKS back in 2013. During his 9 year term with the team, he built a roster that took them to 3 Grey Cup appearances, winning one in 2016.

Assistant General Manager Jeremy Snyder will assume the Interim General Manager role with Jean-Marc Edmé assuming the Interim Assistant General Manager. Snyder has also been a part of the REDBLACKS since 2013, while Edmé joined the organization in 2016.

The Ottawa REDBLACKS entered the 2021 season coming off a 3-15 season in 2019, they are currently 2-9 as of Desjardins’ release.

“If you were to ask me my favourite Marcel memory, it wasn’t the Grey Cup win — that was chaos and frenetic, it was the second-and-25 (Henry Burris game-winning touchdown pass to Greg Ellingson in the 2015 East final). It looked like we were going to win, then it looked like we were going to get pinned in our own end and Hamilton was going to get a field goal to win the game. Then all of a sudden, we win. I was down on the field watching Marcel do a very composed interview with TSN TV. He could see me out of the corner of his eye. When the interview stopped, he turned to me and I could see a bit of a smile and satisfaction and pride in his eyes. That probably will be my favourite memory of Marcel, who had gotten to where he was trying to get to and knew he had done a fantastic job.”

Mark Goudie, President and CEO of Ottawa REDBLACKS

The 2-9 Ottawa REDBLACKS will be hosting the 5-6 Calgary Stampeders at home on Saturday, October 29th. The kick-off is set for 7:00 PM EST.