Photo: Aru Das/3DownNation. All rights reserved.
The Ottawa Sooners’ coaching staff certainly won’t lack for CFL experience this season.
The Canadian Junior Football League club, which hired Ottawa Redblacks’ running backs coach Josh Sacobie to be their head coach and director of sport in April, has unveiled a series of coaching staff additions over the past several days, many of whom boast serious professional resumes.
On May 9, the team made their first announcement via social media, naming former Redblacks Jonathan Rose and Sherrod Baltimore as co-defensive back coaches. Rose played 66 games in the CFL for Ottawa and Edmonton, earning two East Division all-star selections, while Baltimore played 76 career games, all in Ottawa. Former Redblacks safety Justin Howell will also join the team as a defensive quality control coach after his season with the Rhein Fire in Europe concludes.
Later that same day, the Sooners revealed that All-CFL receiver Dominique Rhymes would be part of a trio of receivers coaches, alongside Brandon Weekes and former Toronto Argonauts’ draft pick Phil Iloki. Rhymes, who announced his retirement this offseason, amassed 5,822 yards and 32 touchdowns with the Redblacks, B.C. Lions, and Calgary Stampeders.
The following day, the team unveiled that a pair of former J.P. Metras Trophy winners would split defensive line coaching duties, bringing on board Deionte Knight and Ettore Lattanzio. Knight played 36 CFL games with Toronto, Hamilton, and Ottawa, while Lattanzio spent five seasons with the Blue Bombers and Redblacks.
On Wednesday, the club announced that longtime CFL coach and general manager Adam Rita would be serving as a special advisor to football operations. The 78-year-old won three Grey Cups as an assistant coach and one as a head coach with the Argonauts in 1991. He posted a 40-46 record across head coaching stints in Toronto, Ottawa, and B.C., and went 122-128-1 as the general manager with the Lions and Argonauts, winning two more Grey Cups. He has remained active as a coach in Europe since retiring from the CFL in 2010.
It is clear that Sacobie, who served as offensive coordinator at Carleton University prior to his own CFL stint, is leveraging his professional and amateur connections in order to build a star-studded staff. It is unclear whether the team is done adding marquee names or if more hires are still to come.
The Sooners were founded in 1960 and have won four CJFL national championships in their history, with the last coming in 1992. The club played in the Quebec Junior Football League from 1996 to 2008 and won three Mason Cup titles over that span before returning to the CJFL in 2009. Notable alumni of the team include Ian Beckstead, Darren Joseph, Rick Sowieta, and Pat Woodcock.
Ottawa went 1-7 last season, missing the playoffs. The Ontario Football Conference has yet to announce a schedule for the 2026 season
