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In what’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Ottawa Redblacks as they head down the stretch toward the May 11 start of rookie camp – they added two coaches and subtracted one on Monday.
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Last week, the big news was the retirement of quarterback Duck Hodges. On Monday, the Redblacks announced defensive line coach Carey Bailey had left to take a position outside of football and they have hired defensive line coach Mike Phair and defensive assistant Paul Eddy Saint-Vilien.
The 52-year-old Phair, who spent 2021 as a defensive assistant at Stanford University, has served on the coaching staff of five different NFL teams, most recently as defensive line coach of the Carolina Panthers in 2020. Phair spent 2018-2019 with the Indianapolis Colts as D-line coach. He has also coached with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (assistant D-line), Chicago Bears (D-line) and Seattle Seahawks (assistant D-line and linebackers coach), as well as the University of Illinois (run game co-ordinator and D-line), Tiffin University, and Arizona State.
Saint-Vilien joins the Redblacks after spending the last four years with the Carleton Ravens, most recently as interim head coach and defensive co-ordinator. Prior to his time with Carleton, he was defensive co-ordinator and linebackers coach with the Montreal Carabins between 2014-2017.
Up next for the Redblacks is the May 3 CFL Draft. Ottawa has nine selections, including the second overall pick.