2021 Coaching Staff
RICK CAMPBELL- CO-GM, HEAD COACH, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR2021 marks Rick’s second full year with the organization after he was introduced as the 27th head coach in BC Lions history in early December 2019 and also added Co-General Manager duties prior to the 2021 season. He was most recently the head coach of the Ottawa RedBlacks from 2014 to 2019. Rick also serves as the team’s defensive coordinator. Enjoying a varied, effective and accomplished coaching career which began more than 20 years ago as a graduate assistant at the University of Oregon, Campbell has served on coaching staffs in Edmonton (’99-’08, ’11), Winnipeg (2009) and Calgary (2010, ’12-’13) before being named Ottawa’s first head coach in 2014. While at the helm of the RedBlacks, the 48-year-old native of Spokane, Washington quickly transformed the expansion club into an East Division power and enjoyed three trips to the Grey Cup in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
Since taking his first coaching position in 1999, Rick has been part of three Grey Cup champions including a pair of tiles in Edmonton in 2003 and 2005. His two decades spent in the CFL include roles as a defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, defensive backs coach and running backs coach. Growing up in Edmonton and a graduate of Washington State University, Rick’s ties to coaching run deep as the son of Canadian Football Hall of Fame member Hugh Campbell who enjoyed a storied playing career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and coached Edmonton’s historic five-in-a-row squads that won Grey Cup championships in 1978, ’79, ‘80, ‘81 and ’82. Rick and his wife Brianna reside in Vancouver year-round. Coaching Path |
His hard work and innovative approach to coaching earned him the CFL’s Coach of the Year award in 2015 after guiding Ottawa to a Grey Cup appearance in just his second year with the club. A year later, Rick enjoyed his first Grey Cup title as a head coach as the RedBlacks triumphed over the Calgary Stampeders 39-33 in an overtime thriller.
JORDAN MAKSYMIC- OFFENSIVE COORDINATORMaksymic was introduced as Lions offensive coordinator in January of 2020 after spending four seasons on the coaching staff of the Edmonton Football Team.
The native of St. Albert, Alberta was instrumental in helping Mike Reilly win the CFL Most Outstanding Player Award in 2017. Reilly was also the league’s leader in passing yards in each of their three seasons together and tied Trevor Harris for the most touchdown passes (30) in 2018. Prior to landing with the Eskimos, Maksymic spent two seasons (2014-15) as running backs coach and offensive assistant with the Ottawa RedBlacks. Prior to his first stint on the Edmonton staff from 2011-13, Maksymick spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Northern Arizona from 2009-10. The former high school quarterback got his first exposure to the CFL as a water boy at Calgary Stampeders training camp in 2006. He parlayed that experience into a role as the Stampeders’ video coordinator from 2007-08. |
DON YANOWSKY- SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATORA veteran of nearly He spent two seasons (2014-15) as special teams coordinator with the Ottawa RedBlacks where he helped the franchise go from two wins in their inaugural season to a 12-6 record and appearance in the 105th Grey Cup in year two. Yanowsky was the Calgary Stampeders linebackers coach from 2012-13. During that time, Calgary’s stout defensive unit helped lead the squad to an appearance in the 100th Grey Cup followed by a 13-5 campaign and first place finish in the West in 2013. Prior to joining the professional coaching ranks, Yanowsky enjoyed over two decades of success in the US College ranks where stops included his alma mater of Toledo, Arkansas State, Minnesota, Boston College and East Carolina As Tight Ends Coach, Yanowsky helped Boston College defeat Michigan State in the 2007 Champs Sports Bowl before they advanced to the Music City Bowl against Vanderbilt the following season. |
KELLY BATES- OFFENSIVE LINE COACHKelly returned to the BC Lions midway through the 2019 season to take over duties as offensive line coach. He was previously part of the club’s coaching staff for four seasons (2011 to 2014) serving as an offensive assistant and running backs coach following an 11-year CFL career.
In 2009, Kelly was traded to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers where he spent one season before moving to the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the start of the 2010 season. Partway through the year, Kelly was traded by the ‘Riders to the Edmonton Eskimos. At the conclusion of 2010, he joined the Leos as an offensive assistant for the club’s 2011 championship campaign and also dressed for four games midway through the season when injuries to the offensive line pressed him back inKelly enjoyed a successful CIS career at the University of Saskatchewan, winning the Vanier Cup in 1998 while also earning Kinesiology and Education degrees. Duringto action. his playing days, Kelly worked as a substitute teacher each off-season and still runs an annual football camp in Humboldt each spring. Kelly and his wife, Nadine have two daughters, Nyah and Annie and reside in Coquitlam. |
Beginning his playing career with the Lions as the club’s fourth-round selection in 2001 CFL Draft, the Humboldt, Saskatchewan native enjoyed seven standout seasons in orange including a Grey Cup Championship in 2006 and a CFL All-Star campaign in 2007.
JASON TUCKER- RECEIVERS COACH
The former Edmonton Football Team receiver begins his 10th season in the professional coaching ranks and first with British Columbia. Tucker most recently served as wide receivers coach with Edmonton in 2019, a year where both Greg Ellingson and Ricky Collins Jr. had over 1,000 receiving yards. The three-time CFL All-star began his coaching career with the Eskimos from 2009-10 (wide receivers) before three seasons (2012-14) in the same role with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Along with earning a Grey Cup ring in 2013, Tucker helped Chris Getzlaf, Weston Dressler and Taj Smith each eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in that championship season. He moved south of the border to serve as assistant wide receivers coach with the Tennessee Titans from 2015-16, before returning north of the border to coach the Montreal Alouettes wide receivers in 2018. During his CFL playing career (2002-08) with the Eskimos, Tucker caught 450 passes for 8,065 yards and 64 touchdowns while helping the green and gold win two Grey Cups. He was also named MVP of the 2003 Grey Cup victory over Montreal after catching two touchdown passes from Ricky Ray. A sixth-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals out of Texas Christian in 1998, Tucker went on to play two seasons (1999-2000) with the Dallas Cowboys where he caught 36 passes for 565 yards and two touchdowns in 31 games. |
LEROY BLUGH- DEFENSIVE LINE COACH
Prior to joining the pro coaching ranks, Blugh was the head coach at Bishop’s University from 2005-10 and helped the Gaiters reach the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) semi-final on three occasions. He then went on to coach the defensive line at Queens University from 2011-12. He began his CFL coaching career with the Edmonton Eskimos (defensive line) in 2013. Blugh’s playing career spanned 15 seasons (1989-2003) with Edmonton and Toronto. The two-time West Division All-Star won a Grey Cup with the Eskimos in 1993 and was named the CFL Most Outstanding Canadian in 1996. Born on the Island of St. Vincent, Blugh grew up in Napanee, Ontario and played his University football at Bishop’s. |
RYAN PHILLIPS- DEFENSIVE BACKS COACH
The Eastern Washington grad originally joined the Lions as a free agent in 2005 and went on to appear in 212 regular season games for the club (5th all-time among Lions) and enjoyed a pair of Grey Cup wins in 2006 and 2011. Patrolling the Lions’ secondary with legendary teammates Dante Marsh and Korey Banks, Phillips wrapped up his amazing career with 47 interceptions (2nd all-time among Lions) including a record-tying 12 picks in the 2007 season along with a club-best 816 career return yards and five pick-sixes. A four-time CFL All-Star and five-time West Division selection, the versatile and gifted defensive back signed with the Montreal Alouettes in 2017 and appeared in two games before returning to the West Coast in a football operations role with the Leos. Ryan and his wife Fadhila have two sons and reside in the Seattle area. |
2021 marks Ryan’s second season as defensive backs coach. A native of Seattle, Phillips was most recently a member of the Calgary Stampeders player personnel staff in 2018 following a similar position with the Lions in 2017.
TRAVIS BROWN- LINEBACKERS COACHBrown joins the Lions as linebackers coach after spending the last two seasons in the same role with the Edmonton Football Team.
Brown’s coaching career began at his alma mater of Fresno State (defensive quality control, linebackers) following two seasons as a player with the Ottawa RedBlacks from 2014-15 where he recorded 56 tackles, three sacks, two interceptions and a forced fumble over 17 games. He was named to the All-Mountain West and All-Mountain team in his senior college season of 2012. His father Dan Brown was a longtime coach in the US college ranks and served as defensive line coach with the Birmingham Barracudas in 1995. |
Under his watch, Larry Dean finished in the top five of the CFL in defensive tackles last season while JC Sherritt recorded 100 defensive stops in 2018.