RNation, 

 

     As you likely know by now, we’ve made a coaching change with Bob Dyce taking over as our head coach on an interim basis for the rest of the 2022 season. We look forward to finishing out this season by competing hard in our final 4 games while looking forward to the future and evaluating our coaching staff and players. I know some of you have been wondering why we haven’t acted sooner. First, I’ll start by saying that Paul LaPolice is a great football man and an even better person. We wanted to give Paul and the staff here the opportunity to overcome a tough start to the season and get to the playoffs. With back-to-back wins on August 27 and September 2 combined with the overall situation in the East division this year, that possibility was firmly alive until more recently. Given where we stand today, I felt the time for a change had come so we can begin the process of turning our attention to 2023, that will include the search for a new head coach along with an infusion of more talent to fill some of the holes we see in our roster.    

 

     I want you to know and understand that I made a hard but exciting decision to leave a GREAT situation in Hamilton last December. The opportunity here was just too good to pass up. From ownership on down, there was alignment on doing whatever was necessary to return the REDBLACKS to being the “class of the East”, while offering our fans a competitive and entertaining product that would get back to competing for the Grey Cup each year. While the results haven’t materialized, YET, I can tell you that we’ve been given everything we needed this year to be successful and the commitment made to me last December is the same today as it was then. I am more excited now than ever before to be your General Manager.  

 

     Looking ahead, the key building blocks for the future of REDBLACKS football are already here. Players like Jeremiah Masoli, Jaelon Acklin, Jacob Ruby, and Patrick Levels are signed to multi-year deals and will help us recruit new REDBLACKS to the roster for next season.   

 

     My vision for REDBLACKS football going forward is this – to build a winning culture that brings year to year consistency and a winning product to our fanbase. We want to compete for East Division Championships and the opportunity to compete for the goal of every team in our league, which of course is the Grey Cup.  

 

     Finally, getting better is a collective exercise. On and off the field, we are all humans striving to improve and doing our best to offer you something you’ll enjoy and be proud to support. We know our record over the past few years has left RNATION frustrated, but this isn’t the time to turn your back on us. We have a plan and vision of where we want to go.  This is the time to come together and show the players and the organization that we are all in it together. If we can do that, we’ll achieve our on-field goals, while playing to full stadiums of excited and passionate fans. That’s what we all want right? Let’s do that together. 

 

Thanks for listening. 

 

Shawn Burke