The Edmonton Elks have hired Rick Campbell as a coaching analyst, the team announced on Tuesday.
The 55-year-old served as the special teams coordinator with the Ottawa Redblacks last season, though he wasn’t retained on Ryan Dinwiddie’s new staff.
Campbell has 26 years of CFL coaching experience, including head coaching stints with the Ottawa Redblacks and B.C. Lions. He went 44-62-2 with the Redblacks from 2014 to 2019, helping lead the team to an upset victory over the Calgary Stampeders in the 104th Grey Cup. He was also named the CFL’s Coach of the Year in 2015.
Ed Hervey, who is now the general manager of the Elks, hired Campbell as the head coach in B.C. in 2020. The veteran coach went 38-30 over four seasons with the Lions but was fired after the team lost the West Semi-Final in 2024.
Campbell, who was born in Spokane, Wash. and raised partly in Edmonton, has previously spent 11 years as an assistant with his hometown team. He helped Edmonton win Grey Cups in 2003 and 2005 before becoming a Canadian citizen in 2011.
“We are excited to bring Rick Campbell into the building,” head coach Mark Kilam said in a statement. “His depth of experience, high character and detailed resume within the Canadian Football League will be a valuable asset to our staff and players.”
Campbell is the son of franchise legend Hugh Campbell, who won five-straight Grey Cups as the head coach in Edmonton from 1978 to 1982.
After brief stints in the USFL and NFL, Hugh returned to Edmonton for a 12-year term as general manager and nine-year term as president and CEO. The 10-time Grey Cup champion was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
The Edmonton Elks were one of the CFL’s most active teams in free agency with key signings including quarterback Taylor Powell, receivers Austin Mack and Joe Robustelli, offensive lineman Coulter Woodmansey, and defensive lineman Malik Carney. The team’s main departures included quarterback Tre Ford (Hamilton Tiger-Cats), receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr. (Hamilton Tiger-Cats), and defensive lineman Jake Ceresna (Winnipeg Blue Bombers).
The Elks hold the third overall pick in the 2026 CFL Draft, which is scheduled for Tuesday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m. EDT. All CFL training camps are scheduled to open on May 10. Edmonton will play its first preseason game against the B.C. Lions on Saturday, May 23 and its first regular-season game against the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday, June 6.
In 2025, Edmonton finished fifth in the West Division standings with a 7-11 record, missing the playoffs for the fifth straight season.