By: OttawaREDBLACKS.com Staff
Photo: CP Images
OTTAWA — Rick Campbell, head coach of the Ottawa REDBLACKS of the Canadian Football League today announced the team’s coaching staff for the 2015 season:
Defensive Coordinator: Mark Nelson
Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach: Jason Maas
Special Teams Coordinator: Don Yanowsky
Receivers Coach: Travis Moore
Defensive Backs Coach: Ike Charlton
Defensive Line Coach: Leroy Blugh
Offensive Line Coach: Bryan Chiu
Running Backs Coach: Jordan Maksymic
Defensive Assistant: Derek Oswalt
Defensive Coordinator
Mark Nelson
Nelson begins his second season with the REDBLACKS and 27th as a coach at the professional and collegiate level. The 58-year-old native of Edmonton coached for his hometown Eskimos from 2010-2012 as linebackers coach during the first two seasons before having the defensive coordinator duties added to his role in 2012.
His most recent stint in the CFL began in 2009 when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hired Nelson as the team’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. From 1997-2008, he worked in the United States at various colleges, including Valdosta State, Arkansas Tech, Kentucky, Baylor, Tulsa and Louisville.
Nelson made his debut in the CFL as a player in 1980 with Calgary and played six seasons before retiring in 1987 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
He made his first professional coaching appearance in 1992 as special teams and linebackers coach with the Eskimos, winning a Grey Cup in 1993. He also worked with the San Antonio Texans and the Toronto Argonauts, where he earned a second Grey Cup ring in 1996.
Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach
Jason Maas
Maas joins the REDBLACKS for his first season with the club. He had served the previous four seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, beginning in 2011 as receivers coach before taking over the quarterbacks coaching duties in 2012.
Maas is a former quarterback in the CFL, most notably for the Edmonton Eskimos where he played for 10 seasons (2000-2005; 2008-2011). He was named the most outstanding player for the Eskimos in 2001 and 2004 and was a member of Grey Cup championship teams in 2003 and 2005.
In 2004, Maas had a banner year, throwing for 5,274 yards and 31 touchdowns. He set a CFL record completing 22 consecutive passes in a game, a mark that has stood for 11 seasons.
Maas also played for Hamilton and Montreal before returning to Edmonton to finish his career with the Eskimos.
Maas was born in Wisconsin but grew up in Yuma, Arizona where he played high school football . He was considered one of the top quarterbacks in the state during his senior year before attending Oregon where he played collegiately with the Ducks.
Special Teams Coordinator
Don Yanowsky
Yanowsky, known as “Yano” in football circles, begins his second season with the REDBLACKS as special teams coordinator. He has served over three decades in the professional, college and high school ranks.
Yanowsky, a proud native of Chicago’s south side, made a CFL debut in 2012 in Calgary as linebackers coach for the Stampeders and held the position for two seasons.
Yanowsky served in several positions with various NCAA and high school programs, including Memphis, Louisiana State, Boston College, East Carolina, Duke, Arkansas State, Minnesota and Utah; including 10 seasons as a special teams coordinator in the NCAA. He began his coaching career in 1981 as a student assistant with the University of Toledo, where he also played.
Receivers Coach
Travis Moore
Moore, a 44-year-old native of Santa Monica, California, returns as receivers coach of the REDBLACKS. Moore has coached in the CFL since 2009 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (running backs) before moving to the B.C. Lions for three seasons to coach the receivers. In 2013, he served as receivers coach in Edmonton.
As a player, Moore broke into the CFL with Calgary in 1996, following his collegiate days at Ball State. He spent seven seasons with the Stampeders and won two Grey Cups. He was named a CFL All-Star in three straight campaigns, starting in 1999. He scored 78 career touchdowns and finished his career with 9,868 receiving yards.
Moore led the league in receiving yards (1,198) in 1999 and in the 2000 season finished tied for the CFL crown with Winnipeg’s Milt Stegall with 15 touchdown receptions.
Moore also played the 2001 season in the XFL for the San Francisco Demons where he helped the team reach the championship final. He and his wife Stephanie have six children: Jasmine, Isaiah, Travis Jr., Alayah, Victoria and Tyvon.
Defensive Backs Coach
Ike Charlton
Charlton starts his second season in Ottawa. The 37-year-old native of Orlando began his coaching career as guest coach in Calgary in 2012 and Edmonton in 2013. Charlton attended and played linebacker at Virginia Tech (1999 First-team All-American) and was drafted in the second round, 52nd overall, in the 2000 NFL draft by Seattle. He played two seasons with the Seahawks before joining Jacksonville in 2002, the New York Giants in 2003, Oakland in 2004 and New England in 2005.
He moved to Canada in 2006 and spent parts of six seasons in Winnipeg before joining Montreal in 2010 and helped the Alouettes to a Grey Cup victory.
Charlton began his coaching career at Bridgewater College Eagles in Virginia in 2012 (special teams and tight ends) and with the Freedom High School Patriots in Orlando in 2013 (defensive backs). He has also participated in the NFL’s coaching intership program.
He is the father to Tiah, Imari, Iniya and Isaiah V.
Defensive Line Coach
Leroy Blugh
Canadian Football Hall of Fame nominee Leroy Blugh, a standout Canadian defensive lineman for 15 CFL seasons, joined the REDBLACKS as the team’s defensive line coach in February of 2014 and begins his second season at the post.
Blugh, who grew up in nearby Napanee, Ontario, played with the Edmonton Eskimos (1989-2000) and the Toronto Argonauts (2001-2003) before becoming a coach. He was head coach at Bishop’s University from 2005 to 2010 and served as an assistant for two seasons with the Queen’s Golden Gaels before joining the Eskimos for the 2013 season as Edmonton’s tutor of the defensive line.
Blugh hoisted the Grey Cup with the Eskimos in 1993, was a CFL West Division all-star in 1996 and 1998, and was named the league’s outstanding Canadian in 1996.
In November of 2014, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame announced that Blugh had been selected to be included into its 2015 induction class.
Offensive Line coach
Bryan Chiu
Chiu, a native of Vancouver, starts his first season with the REDBLACKS. He was hired in December of 2014, after serving with the Toronto Argonauts in 2014 as the team’s offensive line coach.
Prior to his stint with the Argos, Chiu mentored the offensive linemen and was the assistant offensive coordinator with the Concordia Stingers from 2010 to 2013.
Chiu spent the entirety of his steller 13-year CFL career on the offensive line with the Montreal Alouettes. He was named an all-star seven times and was selected the league’s top lineman in 2002. He won a Grey Cup in 2002 and another in 2009 before announcing his playing retirement prior to the 2010 campaign.
Running backs Coach
Jordan Maksymic
Maksymic becomes the full-time running backs coach, his first season at the job after serving as offensive assistant with the REDBLACKS in 2014. The St. Albert, Alberta native became a full-time offensive assistant in 2013 with the Edmonton Eskimos after spending two seasons in the team’s video department. He has also worked in the video department of the Calgary Stampeders and as a graduate assistant at Northern Arizona University.
Maksymic played quarterback at Bellerose Composite High in St. Albert, a suburb of Edmonton.
Defensive Assistant
Derek Oswalt
Oswalt returns for a second season as defensive assistant with the REDBLACKS. He was as a guest coach in 2013 with Montreal and worked in Edmonton as a defensive assistant in 2012. Oswalt has worked extensively in the NCAA for various schools, including a portion of 2013 at Fairmont State. He was also with Louisville as graduate assistant coach from 2004-2007. The Cardinals won the Conference USA championship and Liberty Bowl in 2004 and captured the Big East title and Orange Bowl in 2006.
He played defensive line at Hanover College in Indiana where he was a two-year letter-winner and a two-time recipient of Academic All-Conference honours.
