{"id":361281,"date":"2025-12-22T07:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T07:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/361281\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T07:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T07:59:10","slug":"return-to-coaching-not-on-the-radar-right-now-for-ticats-orlondo-steinauer-but-never-say-never","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/361281\/","title":{"rendered":"Return to coaching ‘not on the radar right now’ for Ticats’ Orlondo Steinauer, but ‘never say never’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym\/RFB Sport Photography<\/p>\n

Hamilton Tiger-Cats\u2019 president of football operations Orlondo Steinauer is still referred to as \u201cCoach\u201d by many around the CFL, but he currently has no plans to return to the sideline.<\/p>\n

The 52-year-old was rumoured to be a candidate for head coaching vacancies in Toronto<\/a> and Ottawa<\/a> this offseason, but declined a chance to interview with the Argonauts<\/a>. He addressed speculation regarding his desire to return to coaching in a recent appearance on CHCH\u2019s Sportsline Podcast with Bubba O\u2019Neil<\/a>, expressing a lack of immediate interest while keeping his options open.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t rule those things out, but I say the same thing when I was rumoured to leave Hamilton to go other places,\u201d Steinauer said. \u201cI\u2019m where my feet are at right now. I\u2019m focused on 2026 and helping to build and construct the best football team we can through each step.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got the bowl games coming up, then we\u2019ve obviously got free agency, then we\u2019ve got to prep for the CFL Draft, and then there\u2019s the Combine, and obviously the CFL Draft and Global Draft. That\u2019s really my focus, and that\u2019s why I say \u2018never say never,\u2019 but (a return to coaching) is not on the radar right now. It\u2019s all about building a championship roster and environment for the 2026 season, for the ultimate goal that we all know. We\u2019re just going to focus on the daily process right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steinauer served as the Ticats\u2019 head coach from 2019 until 2023, posting a 39-29 record. He was named the CFL\u2019s Coach of the Year in 2019 and took the team to back-to-back Grey Cups, losing both times.<\/p>\n

Despite never missing the playoffs in four seasons at the helm, the Seattle, Wash., native surrendered coaching duties following the 2023 season<\/a> in order to focus on his football operations role. Scott Milanovich took over as head coach and has gone 18-18 in two seasons, finishing first in the East Division in 2025 before losing in the East Final.<\/p>\n

Some wondered if Steinauer would be satisfied working exclusively in the front office, given his passion for coaching and the success he had already achieved in the field. However, the Canadian Football Hall of Famer appears to be embracing this new stage of his career<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously different from being in front of the football team, but I kind of have a different team. All the department heads and everybody else, that is my team now,\u201d he explained, noting that he still gets his on-field fix.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I have a coaching background. Scott and I talk football all the time, so it\u2019s not like I\u2019m just behind the desk. I go out on the practice field; I\u2019m not watching practice from some bird\u2019s eye view somewhere, and just assessing everything and taking notes. I\u2019m down there, ground floor. I sit in meetings. When Scott needs something, we talk ball. If you need help with a drill or something, I\u2019ll do it. It\u2019s kind of the best of both worlds for me. I love supporting Scott and everybody else. It\u2019s totally different \u2014 to try to compare it like it possibly could be the same, it\u2019s definitely not \u2014 but it has its perks, and I\u2019m really enjoying it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his two seasons since stepping away from coaching, Steinauer has worked with a general manager \u2014 Ed Hervey in 2024 and Ted Goveia in 2025. However, the team has not filled that title since Goveia\u2019s tragic passing due to cancer in September<\/a> and appears set to operate without a true GM next year.<\/p>\n

Hamilton has employed some unconventional front office setups in the past and recently hired Brock Sunderland as senior director of player personnel<\/a>. Steinauer indicated that the former Edmonton Elks general manager will take the lead on player acquisition, but that he alone holds final say on all roster moves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be on a collaborative basis. Ultimately, somebody has to make the final decision, and that will flow through me,\u201d Steinauer said. \u201cI\u2019m not a big title guy, as you know from being around me and actually walking through our building. I\u2019m about roles and responsibilities. I\u2019m responsible for everything in football operations. It was no different when we had a general manager. It still falls on me, my full responsibility of everything. Like I said, it\u2019s more about the roles, responsibilities, and the clarity versus the title.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Steinauer\u2019s title and role are crystal clear for next season, though there is no telling if the coaching itch will return when the next round of jobs open up in 2027.<\/p>\n

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats finished first in the East Division standings in 2025 with an 11-7 record, though the team lost the East Final to the Montreal Alouettes. Bo Levi Mitchell led the CFL with 5,296 passing yards, 36 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions after starting all 18 regular-season games, earning the East Division\u2019s nomination for Most Outstanding Player.<\/p>\n

The Tiger-Cats ranked third in net offence, eighth in net defence, and first with a turnover differential of plus-ten. The club\u2019s leading rusher was Greg Bell with 1,038 yards, the leading receiver was Kenny Lawler with 1,443 yards, and the leading tackler was Stavros Katsantonis with 69 tackles. Hamilton ranked fourth in attendance with average crowds of 22,858, which was a 3.9 percent increase from the previous year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym\/RFB Sport Photography Hamilton Tiger-Cats\u2019 president of football operations Orlondo Steinauer is still referred to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-361281","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}