Photo courtesy: Chris Hofley/Ottawa Redblacks

The Edmonton Elks recently hired Rick Campbell as a coaching analyst, which begs the question: what does a coaching analyst actually do? In a recent interview with Morley Scott on 880 CHED, Campbell provided some details of what his role will entail.

“I’m going to be doing things like advanced scouting of opponents, which is a very necessary thing in football. I’m going to do game management reports, a lot of things that a head coach would do in anticipation for a game, so just being an extra guy on-hand,” said Campbell.

“(Elks head coach) Mark Kilam knows exactly what he’s doing, that’s not the point of this. It’s just trying to assist the coaching staff in any way I can, and hopefully bring the knowledge that I have of being in the CFL for a long time, and being a head coach the last 10 years or so — just bringing that to the table and helping the team out any way I can.”

Campbell was the special teams coordinator with the Ottawa Redblacks this past season, though he wasn’t retained as part of Ryan Dinwiddie’s new staff. He previously served as the head coach of the Redblacks (2014-19) and B.C. Lions (2020-24), posting an 82-92-2 regular-season record, winning CFL Coach of the Year in 2015, and helping lead Ottawa to a victory in the 104th Grey Cup.

Ed Hervey, who hired Campbell in B.C. and is now the general manager of the Elks, was the first one to contact him regarding the role.

“Ed reached out to me initially to see if it’s something that I would even be interested in doing. I still live out in Vancouver from my time with the B.C. Lions, and so I was just figuring out next steps of what I’m going to do in my career,” said Campbell.

“I know Mark Kilam from working with him in Calgary, so we know each other personally. It just seemed to fit as we started talking. It just seemed like it would be a good thing on all fronts, and I’m going to do whatever I can to help the team win this year. I’m just looking forward to being back in Edmonton. It’s been a while, and I’m excited for CFL football to start again.”

The 55-year-old’s resumé features 26 years of CFL coaching experience, 10 of which came in two previous stints in Edmonton. As the son of legendary head coach Hugh Campbell and a graduate of Harry Ainlay High School, he has strong ties to the city.

Though CFL fans are used to seeing Campbell prowl the sidelines, he’s going to spend the 2026 season coaching from a different spot in Edmonton.

“I’m going to be in the booth, which I haven’t been in a long time. I’m going to be another set of eyes and ears, just from a game management point of view, and also schematically — see what’s going on, especially on special teams. You can get a much better viewpoint … when you have a little bit of height and you can look down, you can actually see the play develop and what’s going on,” said Campbell.

“When you’re at field-level, it’s much tougher to see, so that’s why you see head coaches or all coaches with headsets on, trying to communicate with people in the press box so you can see what’s happening and going on. I’m excited about that. It’s definitely going to be a different role, but that’s going to be a good thing for me.”

The league is implementing a new 35-second running play clock this season, though the rules committee recommended leaving the clock unchanged for the final three minutes of the first and second halves. This added wrinkle is another element he’ll help tackle in his role.

“There’s going to be things like the 35-second play clock coming in this year, a few different rules that the teams are going to have to adapt to fast,” said Campbell.

“Training camps are short, so the team’s going to be on top of that so the coaches and players are used to that new procedure. These new rules coming in, I think it’s going to be key to who can adapt the fastest and be ready Week 1 for the regular-season to adapt to those rules.”

As for an update on Hugh, who will turn 85 next month, Campbell offered the following.

“He’s doing all right,” he said. “He’s definitely retired but he’s excited for me. Obviously, Edmonton’s a special place for him, and he’s hanging in there.”