Jovan Santos-Knox on REDBLACKS’ growth: ‘Everyone is excited to have a second go’

Jovan Santos-Knox can’t hold back his excitement for the 2025 season with the Ottawa REDBLACKS.

All throughout the off-season, he monitored the moves general manager Shawn Burke was making, hoping he would be next, and on January 28, his wish came true, inking a one-year deal to stay in the nation’s capital.

The wait was anxious, he admitted, but he’s been around long enough to understand the business side of the sport, having moved on from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Edmonton Elks and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the past, each after no more than two seasons.

Entering his third season as a REDBLACK, the excitement for this iteration of the roster has the Waterbury, Connecticut native bouncing off the walls.

“Observing from the outside looking in, kind of like a fan, was exciting,” Santos-Knox said. “Every day there was news, and it just made me more amped, and reassured me to want to come back.”

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In 24 games across his two seasons with the REDBLACKS, Santos-Knox has compiled 129 tackles, five sacks and an interception, and helped elevate his side to the post-season for the first time since 2018. The personal success, he says, is overshadowed by what the team as a whole accomplishes.

In that regard, there’s plenty to build on, but the REDBLACKS are still far from where they want to be come November.

“In the last two years, you can see the growth we’ve had,” Santos-Knox said. “That leap from my first year to the second year was a big one, and we set some great landmarks in terms of setting the franchise’s home wins record, which was cool, but at the end of the day, we still felt like we were a team that could win the Grey Cup and compete last year, and we came a little bit short of that. Everyone’s excited to have a second go around at this thing.”

Excited about all the familiar faces, Santos-Knox is equally excited to welcome some new ones, including running back William Stanback who he’s competed against for years, and special team coordinator Rick Campbell.

LB Jovan Santos-Knox is excited about the REDBLACKS’ off-season moves (Brett Holmes/CFL.ca)

“I think Burkey is doing a tremendous job building the roster and making this a championship organization,” Santos-Knox said. “I played against Stanback countless times, we’ve had many battles, he’s a true warrior. Campbell is a legend, he’s going to be able to add an extra set of eyes and brains to get our overall job accomplished, which is winning a Grey Cup. Those are huge pickups.”

The move with the biggest impact on Santos-Knox so far, of course, is the hiring of William Fields, the new defensive coordinator. Since the CFL’s return in 2021, Santos-Knox has been a rival of the Toronto Argonauts, seeing up close how stout their defence has been.

All of that has been like gasoline on the proverbial fire that is his excitement.

“They’ve had a top defence,” Santos-Knox said. “I’ve been watching them for many years, knowing their dominance and the type of structure they have on their defences, it’s really exciting to watch. It’s a huge pickup to have a guy like that who has a tremendous amount of respect and knowledge of the CFL game.”

Those returning alongside the new additions have Santos-Knox dreaming of winning a Grey Cup, something he’s yet to accomplish in his career. At the age of 30, he has continued his off-season plans of playing basketball and working with his father, who is an elite-level gymnastics coach.

He says this combination leads to a heightened level of athleticism on the football field, which is how he earned the reputation of playing linebacker like a basketball player.

His unorthodox methods have never led him astray, and he has no reason to believe that will be any different as he ages.

“I train with college kids, and I think that just gives me an edge in terms of being able to compete every day,” Santos-Knox said. “The older you get, the less mobile you are, and luckily throughout my career, I’ve been able to maintain that. I have a great base.”