Photo: Aru Das/3DownNation. All rights reserved.

The Toronto Argonauts may be playing 12 road games next season, but that doesn’t scare Jim Barker.

The 69-year-old didn’t view the unconventional schedule as a problem when he was hired as the team’s director of player personnel, and doesn’t believe it was a deterrent for at least one other person offered a top job with the organization.

“It’s exactly as it needs to be,” Barker said in an exclusive interview with 3DownNation. “Mike O’Shea, I know when he was looking at this job (as Argonauts head coach), that was one thing that didn’t bother him at all because everything ends up being exactly as it needs to be.”

The Double Blue will not play a home game at BMO Field until August 6, 2026, due to the FIFA World Cup. Toronto is set to host six matches at the facility, including a round of 32 elimination game, forcing the Argonauts out of town.

The team has elected to play three of their “home” games in their opponent’s venue during that stretch, with stops in Hamilton, Winnipeg, and Saskatchewan. They will also run operations out of the University of Guelph until the international soccer tournament concludes, which Barker chooses to view in a positive light.

“I’m going to look at it as we’re going to have a lot of young players, and we’re not going to be in Toronto. We’re going to all be living together out in Guelph, where we’re able to go and do our practices out there, and we get to travel to other places, and basically, as our unit becomes a true unit, that’s going to help us down the stretch when we do get to play in our stadium in front of our fans,” he said. “I feel bad for the fans, but it’s uncontrollable, and it’s what was decided, so you embrace it.”

While the Argonauts will host a preseason game in Guelph, as they have in years past, the team elected not to play regular-season games there or at any other alternative venue. The franchise and its owners, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, have been roundly criticized for that decision, which is in stark contrast to the B.C. Lions, who will also be unable to play at BC Place during the World Cup. That organization is playing two games at a temporary facility in Kelowna, exposing its product to a different section of the fanbase.

Barker doesn’t get caught up in those discussions and learned long ago that success comes from controlling what you can control.

“When I was a Division III coach, you quibble over things that you really shouldn’t be. You should be just loving the game and loving the kids that are playing the game and the players that we have, and that’s the way I choose to look at it,” he said. “I’m excited about the schedule. I’m excited. No team’s ever done what we’re going to do. We’re going to be on the road till August. It’s going to be a great experience, and these guys can leave a mark that nobody else ever can.”

The Toronto Argonauts finished third in the East Division standings in 2025 with a 5-13 record, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Franchise quarterback Chad Kelly was unable to play all season due to a fractured leg he suffered in the East Final the previous year, giving way to Nick Arbuckle, who threw for 4,370 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions to be named the team’s candidate for Most Outstanding Player.

The Argonauts ranked seventh in net offence, sixth in net defence, and seventh with a turnover differential of minus-eight. The club’s leading rusher was Spencer Brown with 314 yards, the leading receiver was Dejon Brissett with 907 yards, and the leading tackler was Cameron Judge with 79 tackles. Toronto ranked ninth in attendance with average crowds of 15,109, which was a 0.1 percent decrease from the previous year.