Most fans who were waiting on the coaching staff to be announced for the Ottawa Redblacks noticed that when the announcement came, there was no defensive line coach listed. At the time the belief was this was a sign Mike Phair the defensive line coach for the past two seasons that oversaw the break-out performances of Lorenzo Mauldin IV, and Bruce Carter had moved on. This belief proved to be correct, and the Redblacks announced today that Greg Marshall a man who is well known in Ottawa, has been hired as the defensive line coach for the 2024 season.
An Ottawa Legend Returns During the 10th Anniversary Season
In a season of celebration for ten years as the Ottawa Redblacks, the team has tapped their past, to move into the future. Hiring Greg Marshall a former NFL Draft pick, and long-time Ottawa Rough Rider to fill their defensive line coach opening. Marshall is a former defensive lineman himself, and played professionally for ten seasons between his NFL and CFL experience that spanned from 1978-1988. Just one season after he walked away from playing, he turned up as a coach.
Marshall got his start at the semi-professional level, first with the Empire Football League’s Ottawa Bootleggers as their Head Coach for 1990. The following season he would join the CJFL for the first time being hired as the Head Coach for the Ottawa Sooners. He stuck with the Sooners for three seasons (1991-1993). It was at this point he began to draw CFL interest and jumped to the big leagues with the Saskatchewan Roughriders as their defensive line coach. It didn’t take long before he would see his first promotion.
After just two seasons overseeing the defensive line for Saskatchewan, he was promoted to defensive coordinator a position he held for four seasons. This promotion began a run of fifteen years as a defensive coordinator in the CFL before he returned to Saskatchewan as the Head Coach in 2011. After being let go mid-way through his only season as a CFL head coach he took the 2012 season off from coaching. He would return to Edmonton as a defensive coordinator once again but this stop lasted just one season.
Venturing into U-Sports
After just one year he was let go by Edmonton, and this led him to jump into U-Sports coaching. He would join the Queen’s Gaels as their defensive coordinator and held onto the role until the 2018 season. In 2018 he was hired as the Head Coach for the Toronto Varsity Blues, and he would hold onto this position for many years before finding himself a coaching free agent again in November of 2023. Given a chance to return to Ottawa was a no-brainer for the Redblacks and Coach Marshall, as Ottawa is essentially his home away from home having spent 14 seasons in Ottawa whether as coach, or player.
