Winless Redblacks Dismiss VP Burke in 2026

The Ottawa Redblacks are 0-9. Nine games. Zero wins. And now, the front office has finally blinked.

Shawn Burke is out as Vice President of Football Operations. The announcement came down Tuesday morning, a terse press release that landed like a thud in a room already heavy with frustration. No press conference. No quotes from ownership.

Just a line about "a new direction" and a promise that a search committee has been formed. If you've followed this team for more than five minutes, you know how we got here. The question isn't why Burke got fired. It's why it took this long.

What Happened and Why It Matters The Redblacks haven't won a game since October 2025. That's not a typo. They closed last season on a six-game skid, carried that momentum straight into 2026, and haven't looked competent since Week 1. The offence looks lost.

The defence can't get off the field. Special teams have been a liability more weeks than not. Burke inherited a mess when he took the role in early 2023. The roster was aging, the cap situation was tight, and the fanbase was still smarting from the 2022 disaster.

He made moves. Some worked — the Diontae Spencer signing was a steal, and the trade for quarterback Dustin Crum showed vision. But the misses piled up. The offensive line never got fixed.

The Canadian depth chart stayed thin. And the coaching hires? That's where the real damage happened. Look, nobody expected a Grey Cup in Year 1.

But 3-15 over two seasons with zero playoff appearances? In a nine-team league where parity is basically the business model? That's not rebuilding. That's drifting.

And the fanbase noticed. Season ticket renewals dropped 18% this offseason. Walk-up sales are nonexistent. The "We're Building Something" narrative only works if the foundation actually gets poured.

How the Redblacks Got Here The Quarterback Carousel This is the story of the Burke era, really. Jeremiah Masoli. Caleb Evans. Dru Brown.

Dustin Crum. Four different Week 1 starters in four years. None of them stayed healthy. None of them developed.

The offence has ranked last or second-last in passing yards three straight seasons. Crum showed flashes last year — mobility, some arm talent, a willingness to stand in the pocket. But the supporting cast collapsed around him. The line gave up 52 sacks in 2025.

This year? They're on pace for 60. Crum's been sacked 28 times in nine games. He's also missed three starts with a shoulder injury that the training staff initially called "day-to-day. But it adds up.

" That's on the roster construction. You can't evaluate a quarterback when he's running for his life every third snap. The Coaching Merry-Go-Round Bob Dyce got the interim tag removed after 2023. He went 4-14.

Burke kept him anyway. Then came the offensive coordinator shuffle — Jacques Chapdelaine out, Jordan Maksymic in, then Maksymic out after six games this season. Now Dyce is calling plays himself, and the offence looks somehow less* coherent. Defensive coordinator Barron Miles has been the one constant.

His unit kept games close early this year. But they're gassed by the third quarter because the offence can't sustain drives. Three-and-outs kill defences. Everyone knows this.

Apparently not the people building the roster. The Canadian Content Problem This is the quiet killer. The ratio rules aren't new. Every GM deals with them.

But Burke's drafts have been. underwhelming. The 2023 class produced one starter (linebacker Nick Anderson). The 2024 class has zero regular contributors.

The 2025 picks are all on the practice roster or injured. Meanwhile, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg are plugging Canadian starters in at receiver, linebacker, offensive line — positions where Ottawa starts Americans and burns ratio flexibility. That forces the Redblacks to play Americans at safety and corner, which limits special teams options, which hurts field position, which. you see the cycle.

In other news: August 2026 Premium Bonds Results Delayed and Top 5 Netflix Movies to Watch This August 2026.

Common Mistakes the Front Office Made Treating the cap like a suggestion. Burke pushed money into future years to keep veterans like Avery Williams and DeVonte Dedmon. Smart in isolation. But when those players aged out or got hurt, the dead cap hit strangled flexibility.

The 2026 roster has $1.2 million in dead money. That's a starting Canadian receiver and a rotational defensive lineman gone. Ignoring the offensive line until it was too late. They drafted two linemen in 2024.

Both were developmental. They signed one veteran in 2025 free agency — a 33-year-old guard who retired in training camp. Crum has been hit 94 times this season. Ninety-four.

In nine games. Loyalty over results. Dyce is a good man. Players like him.

But "players like him" doesn't win football games. The in-game management has been questionable at best — clock errors, challenge failures, fourth-down decisions that defy analytics. The league has passed him by. No succession plan at quarterback.

Crum is on a one-year deal. There's no one behind him. No draft pick stashed on the practice roster. No veteran mentor signed for depth.

If Crum walks in free agency — and why wouldn't he? — the cupboard is bare. What Actually Needs to Happen Now Hire a GM with Personnel Power The "VP of Football Operations" title was always fuzzy. Burke reported to the president, not the owner.

He had input on coaching hires but final say on the roster? Unclear. The next person needs unambiguous authority. Personnel and coaching.

One voice. One vision. And they need to be from outside the organization. No internal promotions.

No "assistant GM gets the nod. " This franchise needs fresh eyes that aren't invested in previous decisions. Fix the Line. Actually Fix It.

Not "sign a veteran and hope. " Not "draft a project in Round 3. " Spend the cap space. Trade for a proven left tackle.

Sign two interior linemen in free agency. Use a first-round pick on the best pass protector available. Whatever it takes. Crum — or whoever's next — cannot survive another season like this.

And hire an offensive line coach with a track record. Not a former player learning on the job. A teacher. Someone who develops fourth-round picks into starters.

Commit to a Quarterback Plan If the new GM believes in Crum, extend him now. Build around him. Protect him. Give him weapons.

If not, move on immediately and draft the best available QB in 2027. No more bridge veterans. No more "competition" camps that end with the same guy starting because the backup isn't ready. The CFL has changed.

You need a franchise quarterback to win consistently. Ottawa hasn't had one since Trevor Harris. That's six years ago. Rebuild the Canadian Pipeline This is a two-year project minimum.

But it starts with the 2027 draft. Scout the U Sports combines like your job depends on it — because it does. Target positions of need: receiver, offensive line, linebacker. Sign undrafted free agents aggressively.

The best Canadian players often go unpicked because teams overthink measurables. And for the love of everything, develop them. Give them snaps in meaningless games. Put them on the six-game injured list if it saves a year of eligibility.

Be smart. The Search Committee: Who's On It and What That Tells Us The press release named three people: team president Adrian Sciarra, owner Jeff Hunt, and. former Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins. Desjardins.

The guy who built the 2016 Grey Cup team. The guy who also presided over the 2019-2021 collapse.