REDBLACKS announce 2024 football operations staff

CFL.ca Staff

OTTAWA — The Ottawa REDBLACKS introduced the club’s personnel and operations staff on Tuesday, ahead of the 2024 CFL season.

Led by general manager Shawn Burke in his third season at the helm, the club’s operations staff is as follows:

Jeremy Snyder, Assistant GM

Jeremy Snyder joined the REDBLACKS in March 2013 as the director, football administration and pro/college scout. After four years in that role, Snyder was promoted to assistant general manager on May 11, 2017. Snyder began his pro football career as a video intern with the Chicago Bears in 2003 before landing an expanded role as a football operations assistant. He would move to the Philadelphia Eagles in June of 2008 as a pro scout and spent two more seasons in the NFL before moving north of the border.

Brendan Taman, director of pro personnel

Brendan Taman joined the Ottawa REDBLACKS ahead of the 2022 season. In addition to holding senior football operations roles with Montreal, Ottawa and BC, Taman also previously served as GM of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders. He won a Grey Cup with the Riders in 2013.

Chad Hudson, director of Canadian scouting and football analytics

Chad Hudson enters his third season with the REDBLACKS, after a decade spent with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. First joining Saskatchewan as a quality control coach in 2012, he would then serve as manager of football research and development, followed by four years as manager of football analytics and scouting.

Philippe Moreau, assistant director of US scouting and football operations

Philippe Moreau has been with the REDBLACKS since 2018, and now enters his second season as assistant director of US scouting and Football Operations. Moreau first joined the club as a football operations assistant before being promoted to pro and college scout in 2021.

Alex Russell, assistant director of US scouting

Alex Russell joins the REDBLACKS after serving with the Toronto Argonauts since 2019, helping them to a Grey Cup victory in 2022. Taking on the role of director of football operations and National scout that year, Russell previously held the title of manager of football operations, after joining the organization as coordinator of football operations in 2016. Prior to his time with the Argos, Russell spent 2016 to 2018 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, working in football operations and football administration.

Joseph Panessidi, manager of football operations

Joseph Panessidi heads into his third season with the REDBLACKS and second as manager of football operations. He joined the team ahead of the 2022 campaign as a football operations coordinator. A graduate of the University of Ottawa law school, Panessidi broke into football operations as an intern with the Montreal Alouettes in 2021.

The REDBLACKS staff for 2024 also includes

Equipment

Drew McCormick, head equipment manager

Drew McCormick returns to the REDBLACKS as equipment manager in 2024 after first joining the club in 2015. He started with the organization as a sales intern and transitioned successfully to football operations. McCormick joined the department first as an equipment assistant in 2016 before being promoted to assistant equipment manager in 2018. He was tapped for the head equipment manager job in 2020.

Athletic therapy

Scott Shannon, head athletic therapist

Scott Shannon joins the REDBLACKS as the club’s new head athletic therapist. Shannon brings with him decades of experience in the role, including 16 years in athletic therapy with the Toronto Blue Jays where he would ultimately serve in the lead role for nearly four years. More recently, Shannon spent seven years as head athletic therapist with the Toronto Argonauts, five of those coming as their head AT.

The team working under Shannon this season includes:

Shannon Webster, lead assistant athletic therapist
Austin Randall, assistant athletic therapist
Josh Collins, assistant athletic therapist

Strength and Conditioning

Broedie Birkhoff, strength and conditioning coach

Broedie Birkhoff joins the REDBLACKS as the club’s new strength and conditioning coach in 2024. Birkhoff’s arrival in the CFL follows eight years at Hybrid Sports, which included two years as head strength and conditioning coach with the Peterborough Petes after five seasons in an assistant capacity. Birkhoff will work with Sean Young, founder of the Canadian Strength Institute and the REDBLACKS high performance director since 2020.

Video

Braun Gheller, video coordinator

Braun Gheller joined the REDBLACKS in April 2014, after spending two seasons with the Tiger-Cats as a video assistant, including a trip to Regina for the 101st Grey Cup. The Hamilton native also worked with Sportsnet for four years and is an alumnus of Loyalist College.

Working under Gheller in the video department:
Matthew Babion, assistant video coordinator

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