Ottawa Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell celebrates after the Redblacks winning the CFL East Division final against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, in Ottawa on Sunday, Nov. 18, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
The Campbells are CFL royalty, the first family of Canadian football. Father Hugh played in three Grey Cups with the Roughriders, including the team’s first championship in 1966. Son Rick played for Harry Ainley High School in Edmonton.
Hugh was the Eskimos’ head coach from 1977 through ’82. After losing the Grey Cup game in his rookie year, he reeled off five straight victories before leaving for the States. He returned from the NFL in 1986 as general manager and later president and won four more Grey Cup rings for a grand total of 10. Rick has a way to go to catch up but don’t bet against him.
Hugh took over the Eskimos at age 36. Rick was 39 when he became the first head coach in Redblack history. The elder Campbell inherited a team that had been to the Grey Cup three of the previous four years, winning in 1975. Rick started up an expansion team, albeit one with a fair amount of talent. (The CFL deserves a lot of credit for the way they stocked their new edition. I hope they do the same with Halifax). However, only two players remain from the first Redblack team, centre Jon Gott and defensive end Andrew Marshall.
In his five years at the helm, Rick Campbell has gone to the Grey Cup three times, winning two years ago over Calgary. He went into the family business as a defensive coach with the Eskimos in 1999. He won Grey Cups in 2003 and ’05. He succeeded Chris Jones as the defensive coordinator of the Stampeders in 2012. They lost the Grey Cup that year to Toronto.
Father and son both began their head coaching careers with good quarterbacks. Campbell senior had Tom Wilkinson and Bruce Lemmerman, adding Warren Moon his second year. Junior started with Henry Burris, with former B.C. Lion Thomas De Marco as the backup.
Ottawa won two games in its inaugural season. They were 12-6 the following year finishing first and astounding the football world by getting to the Grey Cup, losing 26-20 to Edmonton. They won it all in year three, and, after losing in the semifinal in 2017, are back for the 106th playing of the Grey Cup. Incredible. If he doesn’t win the coach of the year tomorrow night there should be an investigation. The son’s achievements are more remarkable than the dad’s. Hugh would be the first to agree.
Their styles are similar. They are both quiet men who command loyalty and respect. “A strong point in my coaching,” said Hugh, “was that I had a passion for making sure that people got to contribute the most they could. I believed in getting the right people and having them be thinkers and contributors. I was genuinely interested in each player. Never a week went by when I didn’t have a good discussion with a player about his life and goals. Plus every day I thought about how every player was going to get better at that practice. My job was coordinating the coaches and players and striving for improvement every day.” His son does the same.
One player who has steadily improved is quarterback Trevor Harris who came from back-up to Ricky Ray in Toronto to the same role behind Henry Burris. This year he led the league by completing 70.1 per cent of his passes. His passing efficiency mark was 99.6, also the best in the CFL. He won 11 games. He set a record in last Sunday’s East final by throwing for six touchdowns. Last year he was No. 2 in passing efficiency, better than the easter all-star QB Ricky Ray. Despite Harris’ accomplishments this year, Hamilton’s Jeremiah Masoli was named the East’s top quarterback.
Harris has been on a roll lately. The Redblacks wouldn’t be representing the East on Sunday without him. He had a good mentor in how to handle no respect. For years, Burris had to endure the “Good Henry, Bad Henry” comments from fans and media alike. Panned for inconsistency, Harris is now the good Trevor.
He was second string in 2016. In his first Grey Cup start, he wants to make sure the reunion of the Campbell clan Sunday is a big success.
Graham Kelly has covered the CFL for the Medicine Hat News for 46 years. Feedback for this column can be emailed to sports@medicinehatnews.com.
