2019 Montreal Alouettes season

The 2019 Montreal Alouettes season was the 53rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 65th overall. The Alouettes finished with a 10–8 record and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2014 following a week 17 win over the Calgary Stampeders on October 5, 2019.[1] The club hosted a playoff game for the first time since 2014, having finished in second place in the East Division. However, they lost the game to the Edmonton Eskimos by a score of 37–29.

2019 Montreal Alouettes season
Head coach	Khari Jones
General manager	Joe Mack (since July 14, 2019) Kavis Reed (fired July 14, 2019)
Home field	Percival Molson Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	10–8
Division place	2nd, East
Playoff finish	Lost East Semi-Final
Team MOP	Vernon Adams Jr.
Team MOC	Henoc Muamba
Team MOR	Jake Wieneke
Uniform

The team's head coach, Mike Sherman, abruptly departed June 8, 2019, after the team had played its first two preseason games.[2] Khari Jones became the team's interim head coach and this was the third season under general manager, Kavis Reed.[3][4] Shortly after their fourth game of the season, Reed was dismissed by the Alouettes on July 14, 2019 by team president and CEO Patrick Boivin.[5] His position is being filled by Assistant General Manager of Player Personnel, Joe Mack, with other duties shared by Jones and Director of Football Operations, Patrick Donovan.

The Alouettes entered the season with significantly different home and away uniforms for the first time since the 2000 season.[6] The club also announced a change in stadium seating with gameday capacity at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium being "strategically lower(ed)" from 23,430 to 20,025 seats (the same capacity it had before the stadium was expanded to accommodate the CFL, which normally requires stadiums to have at least 24,000 seats) and average ticket prices being reduced from $84 to $75.[7]

Offseason

Banishment of Johnny Manziel

On February 27, 2019, Johnny Manziel, a quarterback for the Alouettes in 2018, was permanently banned from playing on any CFL team as a result of what the Alouettes called an unspecified "(contravention of) the agreement which made him eligible to play." Manziel denied any wrongdoing but accepted the banishment, stating he would consider playing options in the United States such as the Alliance of American Football or the XFL.[8]

Bob Wetenhall relinquishes ownership

On May 31, 2019, Robert C. Wetenhall, the owner of the Alouettes for most of the time since the team relocated from Baltimore in the late 1990s, surrendered control of the Alouettes franchise to the Canadian Football League, which will attempt to sell the franchise to a new owner.[9] Two ownership groups have publicly expressed interest in buying the team: Eric Lapointe, a former Alouettes running back;[10] and Clifford Starke, a 35-year-old medical cannabis entrepreneur.[11] Lapointe had previously made an offer to Wetenhall in 2017 but had been rebuffed; Lapointe acknowledged that Wetenhall was reluctant to sell the team to him.[12] Lapointe withdrew from bidding in April 2019. Vincent Guzzo met with the CFL in mid-May to submit a purchase bid.[13]

Foreign drafts

For the first time in its history, the CFL held drafts for foreign players from Mexico and Europe.[14] Like all other CFL teams, the Alouettes held three non-tradeable selections in the 2019 CFL–LFA Draft, which took place on January 14, 2019. The 2019 European CFL Draft took place on April 11, 2019 where all teams held one non-tradeable pick.[15][16][17]

Draft	Round	Pick	Player	Position	School	Hometown
LFA	1	3	Enrique Yenny	K	ITESM–Toluca	Aguascalientes, Mexico
	2	12	Diego Kuhlmann	OL	ITESM–Toluca
	3	21	Juan Márquez	CB	UDLAP
Euro	1	3	Asnnel Robo	RB	Montreal	Cayenne, France

CFL Draft

The 2019 CFL Draft took place on May 2, 2019.[18] The Alouettes selected second in each round of the draft, less any traded and forfeited picks, by virtue of finishing second-last in the league standings. The club forfeited their first-round selection after selecting Tyler Johnstone in the 2018 Supplemental Draft.[19] They also traded away their second-round pick to Hamilton as part of the Ryan Bomben and Jamal Robinson trade.[20] The Alouettes upgraded their scheduled third-round pick to a second-round pick by trading Tyrell Sutton to the BC Lions and acquired another second-round pick by trading Chris Ackie to the Ottawa Redblacks.[21][22] The Alouettes re-acquired a third-round selection by trading Vernon Adams to the Saskatchewan Roughriders (who eventually re-joined the Alouettes as a free agent in 2018).[23]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School	Hometown
2	13	Kaion Julien-Grant	WR	St. Francis Xavier	Toronto, ON
2	16	Nate Anderson	DL	Missouri	Toronto, ON
2	19	Samuel Thomassin	OL	Laval	Québec, QC
3	21	Zach Wilkinson	OL	Northern Colorado	Vancouver, BC
4	30	Chris Osei-Kusi	WR	Queen's	Brampton, ON
5	39	Michael Sanelli	DT	Concordia	Toronto, ON
6	48	Jeshrun Antwi	RB	Calgary	Calgary, AB
7	57	Benjamin Whiting	LB	Saskatchewan	Saskatoon, SK
8	66	Cody Cranston	DB	Ottawa	Winnipeg, MB

Preseason

Schedule

Week	Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
					Score	Record
A	Bye
B	1	Thu, May 30	11:00 a.m. EDT	@ Toronto Argonauts	L 20–45	0–1	None	Varsity Stadium	4,313	Recap
C	2	Thu, June 6	7:30 p.m. EDT	Ottawa Redblacks	T 20–20	0–1–1	TSN/RDS	Molson Stadium	12,474	Recap

[24][25]

 #  Games played with white uniforms.

Regular season

Standings

East Division
Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	PF	PA	Div	Stk
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	18	15	3	0	30	451	344	7–1	W6	Details
Montreal Alouettes	18	10	8	0	20	479	485	5–3	W1	Details
Toronto Argonauts	18	4	14	0	8	373	562	3–5	L1	Details
Ottawa Redblacks	18	3	15	0	6	312	564	1–7	L11	Details

Schedule

In the late evening of August 9 at 9:06 pm EDT, a weather delay was declared at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium due to an approaching thunderstorm with intense lightning; the Roughriders were leading the Alouettes 17–10 with 2:41 left in the 3rd quarter. Because the game had not restarted by 10:06 pm EDT and over 7:30 had been played in the 3rd at that point, the game was decided to be official and the 17–10 score was declared final.[26][27]

In week 11, the Alouettes were the "away" team as they played the Toronto Argonauts in the fourth regular season installment of Touchdown Atlantic in Moncton, New Brunswick.[28][29]

Week	Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
					Score	Record
1	1	Fri, June 14	9:00 p.m. EDT	@ Edmonton Eskimos	L 25–32	0–1	TSN/RDS/ESPN2	Commonwealth Stadium	25,263	Recap
2	Bye
3	2	Fri, June 28	7:30 p.m. EDT	@ Hamilton Tiger-Cats	L 10–41	0–2	TSN/RDS/ESPN2	Tim Hortons Field	22,407	Recap
4	3	Thu, July 4	7:30 p.m. EDT	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	W 36–29	1–2	TSN/RDS	Molson Stadium	18,673	Recap
5	4	Sat, July 13	4:00 p.m. EDT	@ Ottawa Redblacks	W 36–19	2–2	TSN/RDS/ESPN2	TD Place Stadium	21,536	Recap
6	5	Sat, July 20	4:00 p.m. EDT	Edmonton Eskimos	W 20–10	3–2	TSN/RDS	Molson Stadium	16,137	Recap
7	Bye
8	6	Fri, Aug 2	7:00 p.m. EDT	Ottawa Redblacks	L 27–30 (OT)	3–3	TSN/RDS	Molson Stadium	17,498	Recap
9	7	Fri, Aug 9	7:00 p.m. EDT	Saskatchewan Roughriders	L 10–17	3–4	TSN/RDS	Molson Stadium	16,580	Recap
10	8	Sat, Aug 17	7:00 p.m. EDT	@ Calgary Stampeders	W 40–34 (2OT)	4–4	TSN/RDS	McMahon Stadium	24,453	Recap
11	9	Sun, Aug 25	12:00 p.m. EDT	vs. Toronto Argonauts	W 28–22	5–4	TSN/RDS/ESPNews	Croix-Bleue Medavie Stadium	10,126	Recap
12	Bye
13	10	Fri, Sept 6	7:30 p.m. EDT	BC Lions	W 21–16	6–4	TSN/RDS	Molson Stadium	17,487	Recap
14	11	Sat, Sept 14	7:00 p.m. EDT	@ Saskatchewan Roughriders	L 25–27	6–5	TSN/RDS	Mosaic Stadium	30,205	Recap
15	12	Sat, Sept 21	4:00 p.m. EDT	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	W 38–37	7–5	TSN/RDS	Molson Stadium	19,070	Recap
16	13	Sat, Sept 28	10:00 p.m. EDT	@ BC Lions	L 23–25	7–6	TSN/RDS	BC Place	17,353	Recap
17	14	Sat, Oct 5	4:00 p.m. EDT	Calgary Stampeders	W 21–17	8–6	TSN/RDS	Molson Stadium	18,454	Recap
18	15	Sat, Oct 12	4:00 p.m. EDT	@ Winnipeg Blue Bombers	L 24–35	8–7	TSN/RDS	IG Field	20,907	Recap
19	16	Fri, Oct 18	7:00 p.m. EDT	Toronto Argonauts	W 27–24	9–7	TSN/RDS/ESPNews	Molson Stadium	17,003	Recap
20	17	Sat, Oct 26	1:00 p.m. EDT	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	L 26–38	9–8	TSN/RDS	Molson Stadium	17,264	Recap
21	18	Fri, Nov 1	7:00 p.m. EDT	@ Ottawa Redblacks	W 42–32	10–8	TSN/RDS	TD Place Stadium	24,592	Recap

[24][30][31][32]

 #  Games played with white uniforms.

 #  Games played with blue uniforms.

Post-season

Schedule

Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
				Score	Record
East Semi-Final	Sun, Nov 10	1:00 p.m. EST	vs. Edmonton Eskimos	L 29–37	0–1	TSN/RDS/ESPN2	Molson Stadium	21,054	Recap

[24]

 #  Games played with blue uniforms.

Team

Roster

Montreal Alouettes roster
Quarterbacks  8 Vernon Adams 17 Antonio Pipkin 18 Matthew Shiltz Running Backs 24 Jeremiah Johnson 31 William Stanback Fullbacks 80 Spencer Moore 38 Christophe Normand Receivers 19 Dante Absher  4 Quan Bray 81 Felix Faubert-Lussier 82 Kaion Julien-Grant 87 Geno Lewis  9 Jake Wieneke		Offensive Linemen 64 Sean Jamieson G 62 Diego Kuhlmann 51 Kristian Matte C 55 Landon Rice T 66 Trey Rutherford G 54 Chris Schleuger T 59 Zach Wilkinson 50 Spencer Wilson Defensive Linemen 48 Bo Banner 97 Woody Baron DT 42 Jean-Samuel Blanc  7 John Bowman DE 98 Ryan Brown DT 94 Fabion Foote 52 Gabriel Knapton 93 Antonio Simmons DE		Linebackers 21 Chris Ackie 36 Paul Kozachuk 47 D. J. Lalama 20 Boseko Lokombo 10 Hénoc Muamba 53 Frédéric Plesius 49 Jean-Gabriel Poulin Defensive Backs 23 Tommie Campbell  1 Ciante Evans 33 Jarnor Jones  3 Patrick Levels 45 Najee Murray 26 Greg Reid 43 Dominique Termansen Special Teams 89 Mario Alford KR 14 Boris Bede P/K 37 Martin Bédard LS		1-Game Injured 90 Nate Anderson DL 30 Ty Cranston DB 61 Donald Hawkins OL 12 Chris Matthews WR  5 DeVier Posey WR 91 JaVon Rolland-Jones DL 83 Shakeir Ryan KR 6-Game Injured 25 Ryan Carter DB 85 B. J. Cunningham WR 57 Tevin Floyd LB 60 Tyler Johnstone OL 16 Taylor Loffler DB 34 Glenn Love LB 32 Ryder Stone RB 67 Tony Washington OT Practice Roster 88 Malcolm Carter WR 41 Jason Hall LB 99 Lord Hyeamang DL  0 Aarion Maxey-Penton DB 84 Étienne Moisan WR 22 Shaquille Murray-Lawrence RB  6 Hugo Richard QB 95 Michael Sanelli DL 35 Juan Tamayo DB 79 Enrique Yenny K/P Italics indicate American players Bold indicates Global players Roster updated 2019-11-09 Depth Chart • Transactions 46 Roster, 7 One-game Injured 8 Six-game Injured, 10 Practice Roster → More rosters

Coaching staff

Montreal Alouettes Staff
	Front Office Owner – Canadian Football League President/CEO – Patrick Boivin General Manager – Assistant General Manager of Player Personnel – Joe Mack Director of National Scouting – Miles Gorrell Director of Football Operations – Patrick Donovan Manager of Football Operations – Cailtin Bell Director of Pro Personnel– Head Coach Head Coach – Khari Jones Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator & Quarterbacks – Khari Jones Offensive Line and Run Game Coordinator – Paul Dunn Receivers – Robert Gordon Running Backs – André Bolduc Offensive Assistant – Marquay McDaniel Offensive Assistant – Luc Brodeur-Jourdain			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Bob Slowik Linebackers Coach – Todd Howard Defensive Backs Coach – Morris Lolar Assistant Defensive Backs Coach – Vincent Nardone Special Teams Coaches Special Teams Coordinator – Mickey Donovan Special Teams Assistant – Anthony Ierullo Staff Equipment Manager - Greg McGuire Assistant Equipment Manager - Ryan Batten Head Athletic Therapist - Rodney Sassi → Coaching Staff → More CFL staffs

References

1. "Als earn playoff berth with stout defensive performance". cfl.ca. October 5, 2019.
2. "Als, Mike Sherman part ways". CFL.ca. June 8, 2019.
3. "Alouettes to retain Sherman, Reed". TSN.ca. November 8, 2018.
4. "Alouettes name Mike Sherman new head coach". CFL.ca. December 20, 2017.
5. "Alouettes part ways with GM Kavis Reed". CFL.ca. July 14, 2019.
6. "Montreal Alouettes tease potential jersey launch". CFL.ca. October 15, 2018.
7. "Alouettes announce new stadium plans for 2019". CFL.ca. November 2, 2018.
8. "Manziel released, barred from other CFL teams". ESPN.com. Associated Press. February 27, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
9. https://3downnation.com/2019/05/31/alouettes-sold-to-the-cfl/
10. "Alouettes have no comment on reports of sale of franchise". TSN. Canadian Press. March 13, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
11. Cowan, Stu (April 12, 2019). "Clifford Starke very serious about his plans to buy the Alouettes". The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
12. Ralph, Dan (March 19, 2019). "Former Alouette Eric Lapointe still interested in bid for Montreal CFL team". The Globe and Mail. Canadian Press. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
13. "Vente des Alouettes : Vincent Guzzo met son offre sur la glace". Ici Radio-Canada Tele (in French). May 28, 2019. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
14. Dan Barnes (January 11, 2019). "'FUN ELEMENT': CFL set for inaugural draft of Mexican talent".
15. "Mexico's top talent selected at CFL-LFA Draft". cfl.ca. January 14, 2019.
16. "CFL to hold European lottery and draft in April". 3downnation.com. April 3, 2019.
17. "Full results from the first ever European draft". cfl.ca. April 11, 2019.
18. "An early look at the 2019 CFL Draft selection order". December 17, 2018.
19. "Alouettes select OL Tyler Johnstone in Supplemental Draft". CFL.ca. July 2, 2018.
20. "Ticats acquire first overall pick in major trade with Als". CFL.ca. May 2, 2018.
21. "Lions acquire RB Tyrell Sutton in trade with Als". CFL.ca. September 25, 2018.
22. "Redblacks acquire Chris Ackie in trade with Als". CFL.ca. October 10, 2018.
23. "Riders acquire QB Vernon Adams in trade with Als". CFL.ca. August 15, 2017.
24. "2019 Schedule". Retrieved December 23, 2018.
25. CFL on TSN broadcast schedule
26. "Defensive touchdowns lead Riders past Als in weather-shortened game". CFL.ca. August 9, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
27. "CFL issues statement following shortened Week 9 game". CFL.ca. August 9, 2019. Retrieved August 10, 2019.
28. "Moncton to host 2019 edition of Touchdown Atlantic". cfl.ca. March 29, 2019.
29. "Schooners Sports and Entertainment announces Touchdown Atlantic time change". cfl.ca. May 29, 2019.
30. "ESPN+, ESPN Networks to Broadcast 2019 Canadian Football League Season". June 3, 2019.
31. CFL schedule through August 2019
32. RDS présente plus de 50 matchs de football de la LCF dès le jeudi 6 juin

External links

• Official website