REDBLACKS announce 2024 coaching staff

CFL.ca Staff

OTTAWA — The new-look Ottawa REDBLACKS have their leadership in place.

Ottawa unveiled on Monday the coaching staff that will guide a team full of new additions ahead of the 2024 CFL season.

Bob Dyce enters his second season as head coach, with second-year defensive coordinator Barron Miles also returning to his post. Rounding out the defensive staff are new linebackers coach Deion Melvin, and defensive backs coach Alex Suber, who enters his second stint with the team. Tommy Condell will serve as offensive coordinator, alongside the returning receivers coach and pass game coordinator Travis Moore, running backs Coach Nate Taylor, coaches’ assistant Nadia Doucoure, and new offensive line coach Pat Perles. Cory McDiarmid is also back as Ottawa’s special teams Coach.

“I’m delighted to have Barron, Cory, Nathan, Travis, and Nadia remain on staff, and excited to announce the additions of Tommy, Alex, Pat, and Deion to the group,” said Dyce. “The new coaches bring a wealth of knowledge, passion, and energy. It’s a great combination of experience and youth, and we all look forward to working with the players and having a successful 2024 season.”

Bob Dyce was named the REDBLACKS’ interim head coach late in the 2022 campaign, and was officially given the position ahead of last season. The Winnipeg native arrived in the nation’s capital in 2016 as special teams coordinator, and helped lead the club to their first Grey Cup championship that year. Dyce broke into the CFL in 2003 as receivers coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and his CFL resumé includes seven years in Winnipeg (2003-09) as the receivers coach, six years with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (2010-2015) as the passing game coordinator/receivers coach, offensive coordinator, and special teams coordinator, as well as a stretch in 2015 as the team’s interim head coach.

Tommy Condell begins his first season on the REDBLACKS sideline, after serving as the offensive coordinator of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 2019-2023, and also taking on the role of quarterbacks coach from 2020 on. The Utica, New York product helped the Ticats reach the Grey Cup in 2019, and 2021, and won a championship with the Toronto Argonauts as their quarterbacks coach in 2017, earning a promotion to offensive coordinator the following season. Prior to an earlier stint with Hamilton from 2013-2015, Condell also spent time with the Roughriders as their offensive coordinator in 2006, and quarterbacks/receivers coach and passing game coordinator of the Ottawa Renegades from 2004 until 2005. He broke into the league as special teams coordinator of the Blue Bombers in 1997.

Barron Miles heads into his second year as the REDBLACKS’ defensive coordinator. Before serving as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach for the Bishop’s Gaiters (U Sports) for the 2022 season, the Roselle, New Jersey native spent two years with the Montreal Alouettes, and was the team’s defensive coordinator from 2021-2022. His CFL coaching career has also taken him to Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and BC. As a player, Miles was a five-time CFL All-Star, playing defensive back in an 11-year career split between the Montreal Alouettes, and BC Lions. He won the Grey Cup with the Lions in 2006, and ended his career in 2009 as the CFL’s all-time leader in blocked kicks (13), and second all-time in interceptions (66). He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2018.

Travis Moore rejoined the REDBLACKS in 2023, after initially coaching the club’s receivers from 2014-2017, appearing in two Grey Cups and winning one in 2016. The 10-year former CFLer had coached with Saskatchewan since 2018 prior to beginning his second stint in Ottawa. As a player, Moore played 10 seasons for the Calgary Stampeders and the Roughriders, winning two Grey Cup championships with the Stampeders in 1998 and 2001.

Pat Perles returns to the CFL, after having previously worked as the offensive line coach in Saskatchewan (1994-1996), Winnipeg (1997), and Hamilton (1998-1999), winning a Grey Cup in his final year with the Ticats. Perles was also a defensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams from 1992-1993, and in 2009 joined the Kansas City Chiefs as a defensive quality control coach, before working as their assistant offensive line coach in 2010, and 2011. He has also spent time on the NCAA circuit, previously coaching at Toledo, North Dakota State, Syracuse, and Michigan State.

Nate Taylor returns to the REDBLACKS for his second season as a CFL coach. The Montreal native and former defensive back for the Concordia Stingers was previously the offensive coordinator and receivers coach for the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees. Taylor joined the school as full-time special teams coordinator and recruiting coordinator in 2016. In 2019, Taylor worked as the team’s receivers coach, while still serving as recruiting coordinator.

Cory McDiarmid joined the REDBLACKS late in the 2022 campaign as a special teams assistant, and returned for the 2023 season as special teams coach. McDiarmid has coached in various capacities throughout the CFL during his career, winning Grey Cup’s with BC and Saskatchewan. He also coached for the Panthers Wrocław in the European League of Football before making his way back to the CFL with Ottawa.

Deion Melvin joins the REDBLACKS for his first season with the club after spending the last four years as linebackers coach with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Prior to coming north of the border, Melvin’s coaching career began at East Aurora where he worked as a graduate assistant in the early 1990s. He would go on to coach at Western Illinois (1993-1998), Missouri State (1999-2005), Georgia Southern (2006), Bowling Green (2007-2008), Ball State (2009-2010) and Lindenwood University (2011-2016), before returning for a second stint at Western Illinois (2017-2019). In a coaching career that spans 30 years, Melvin has gained experience working with players in all three phases of the game.

Nadia Doucoure became the second woman in CFL history to earn a full-time coaching job, when the REDBLACKS named her offensive quality control coach in 2023. A native of Paris, France, she had previously worked as a scout with the team, also serving as offensive assistant and receivers coach with the Carleton Ravens. Doucoure formerly served as receivers coach with Football Ontario, and as technical advisor of France’s National Federation of American Football.

Alex Suber is back for his fourth season with the REDBLACKS, but first since 2022, after spending the 2023 season as cornerbacks coach at Middle Tennessee State. The move followed four years in the nation’s capital, where Suber served as defensive backs coach from 2019 until 2022, when he took on the role of receivers coach. Before joining the REDBLACKS, Suber coached receivers at Murray State University, after spending time as Lyon College’s defensive coordinator. Suber wrapped-up his CFL playing career with 65 games played and 254 defensive tackles.

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