Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym/RFB Sport Photography.

Two years ago, Bo Levi Mitchell was the backup quarterback for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in an East Semi-Final loss to the Montreal Alouettes and he didn’t foresee himself returning to the Steel City.

“At that time, when [then-senior assistant coach Scott Milanovich] benched me for the playoff game, was I pissed? Of course. I’m a multiple time Grey Cup-winning quarterback. I wanted to be in the playoffs no matter what’s going on,” Mitchell said.

“But I loved when he showed me the evidence of why he was doing it. I knew he was a great coach — there’s a reason he’s doing what he’s doing, and I’m going to get better at playing football if I stick with him.”

Back-to-back 5,000-yard passing seasons later, Mitchell’s starting for the Ticats as the Black and Gold host the Als in the East Final on Saturday. He has undergone a career renaissance not many people outside the Hamilton Stadium walls believed could happen.

“It takes a lot of trust from Scott [Milanovich], [Orlondo Steinauer], Scott Mitchell, then myself and these guys that they’re going to keep to their word as well, it’s definitely worked out,” Mitchell said.

“I’m proud of us, the way we’ve turned this thing around. I did it because I had the belief in Scott of what he was trying to do. He was ready to have that opportunity to let me stay, I got the opportunity to come back and I jumped at it.”

After earning over $500,000 during an injury-plagued year in 2023, Mitchell backed up his talk by accepting a $147,500 pay cut entering the 2024 season ($357,500), then led the league with 5,451 passing yards and 32 touchdown passes. He earned a $17,300 raise for the 2025 campaign ($374,800) and won the CFL’s passing crown again with 5,296 yards and 36 touchdown passes.

Most importantly, Hamilton went from last place in the East Division at 7-11 in 2024, Milanovich’s first season as head coach, to an 11-7 record with a first-place finish under his guidance in year two. The Ticats are hosting the East Final for the first time since 2019.

Davis Alexander will lead Montreal into enemy territory on Saturday after missing both regular-season matchups against Hamilton. Milanovich was asked if the Als are a different team with him starting at QB.

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, we know what they’re capable of and we know what we’re capable of,” the 52-year-old said. “We’re more concerned about what we’re doing.”

Alexander carries his perfect record as a starter into Hamilton Stadium. He’s 12-0 to begin his CFL career — 11-0 in the regular season, which is a league record. Mitchell started his days in the three-down league 7-0 while also becoming the fastest QB in history to reach 100 wins, doing so in 143 starts.

“You know at some point you’re going to lose, you’re not going to walk through your entire career undefeated, so I don’t think you feel the pressure of the possibility of losing,” Mitchell said. “He’s got the record, it’s his, all he can do is build on it. When the loss does come, it’ll be expected at some point. I’m sure it does nothing but create confidence.”

The Tiger-Cats (11-7) host the Alouettes (11-8) in the East Final on Saturday, November 8 at Hamilton Stadium with kickoff slated for 3 p.m. ET. The Als defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East Semi-Final 42-33, while the Ticats were on bye after finishing atop the East Division standings.

The weather forecast in the Hammer calls for a high of six degrees with a 30 percent chance of showers. The game will be broadcast on TSN, TSN2, CTV, and RDS in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune-in on TSN 690 in Montreal and the Ticats Audio Network.