B.C. Lions co-general manager and head coach Rick Campbell speaks to reporters during the CFL football team's end of season media availability, at their practice facility in Surrey, B.C., on Monday, November 13, 2023.
Campbell says his entire coaching staff from the 2023 season will return next year.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
SURREY, B.C. – B.C. Lions head coach Rick Campbell says his entire coaching staff from the 2023 season will return next year.
Campbell, who is also the team’s co-general manager, also announced that defensive co-ordinator Ryan Phillips will take on assistant head coaching duties.
Phillips, the current coaching staff’s longest-serving member, is returning for a fifth season and third as defensive co-ordinator.
The Lions, who finished 12-6 last season and advanced to the West Division final, also say former head coach Mike Benevides will return to handle the special team’s unit.
Benevides – who spent 12 years with the Lions, starting as a special teams and linebackers coach before getting the head coaching job from 2012-2014 – returned in May to replace special teams co-ordinator Don Yanowsky.
Campbell took over the Lions head coaching role in 2019 and was subsequently named co-general manager after the cancellation of the 2020 CFL season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2023.
