The 2019 Montreal Alouettes season was the 53rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League (CFL) 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. 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.
The team's head coach, Mike Sherman, abruptly departed June 8, 2019, after the team had played its first two preseason games. Khari Jones became the team's interim head coach and this was the third season under general manager, Kavis Reed. 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. 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 2019 CFL season with significantly different home and away uniforms for the first time since the 2000 season. 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.
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.
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 then attempted to sell the franchise to new owners. Two ownership groups publicly expressed interest in buying the team: Eric Lapointe, a former Alouettes running back; and Clifford Starke, a 35-year-old medical cannabis entrepreneur. Lapointe had previously made an offer to Wetenhall in 2017 but was rebuffed; acknowledging that Wetenhall was reluctant to sell the team to him. Lapointe withdrew his bid in April 2019. Vincent Guzzo met with the CFL in mid-May to submit a purchase bid.
Foreign drafts For the first time in its history, the CFL held drafts for foreign players from Mexico and Europe. 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.
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. The Alouettes selected second in each round of the draft by virtue of finishing second-last in the league standings. The club forfeited its first-round selection after selecting Tyler Johnstone in the 2018 Supplemental Draft. The team also traded away its second-round pick to Hamilton as part of the Ryan Bomben and Jamal Robinson trade. 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. 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).
Round Pick Player Position School Hometown 2 13 Kaion Julien-Grant WR St. Francis XavierToronto, ON 2 16 Nate Anderson DL MissouriToronto, ON 2 19 Samuel Thomassin OL LavalQuébec, QC 3 21 Zach Wilkinson OL Northern ColoradoVancouver, BC 4 30 Chris Osei-Kusi WR Queen'sBrampton, ON 5 39 Michael Sanelli DT ConcordiaToronto, ON 6 48 Jeshrun Antwi RB CalgaryCalgary, AB 7 57 Benjamin Whiting LB SaskatchewanSaskatoon, SK 8 66 Cody Cranston DB OttawaWinnipeg, MB
Preseason Schedule Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent Results TV Venue Attendance Summary Score Record A Bye B1 Thu, May 30 11:00 a.m. EDT @ Toronto Argonauts L 20–45 0–1 None Varsity Stadium 4,313 Recap C2 Thu, June 6 7:30 p.m. EDT Ottawa Redblacks T 20–20 0–1–1 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 12,474 Recap CFL on TSN broadcast schedule
Games played with white uniforms.
Regular season Standings
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 quarter at that point, the 17–10 score was declared final.
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.
Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent Results TV Venue Attendance Summary Score Record 11 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 32 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 43 Thu, July 4 7:30 p.m. EDT Hamilton Tiger-Cats W 36–29 1–2 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 18,673 Recap 54 Sat, July 13 4:00 p.m. EDT @ Ottawa Redblacks W 36–19 2–2 TSN/RDS/ESPN2 TD Place Stadium 21,536 Recap 65 Sat, July 20 4:00 p.m. EDT Edmonton Eskimos W 20–10 3–2 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 16,137 Recap 7 Bye 86 Fri, Aug 2 7:00 p.m. EDT Ottawa Redblacks L 27–30 3–3 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 17,498 Recap 97 Fri, Aug 9 7:00 p.m. EDT Saskatchewan Roughriders L 10–17 3–4 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 16,580 Recap 108 Sat, Aug 17 7:00 p.m. EDT @ Calgary Stampeders W 40–34 4–4 TSN/RDS McMahon Stadium 24,453 Recap 119 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 1310 Fri, Sept 6 7:30 p.m. EDT BC Lions W 21–16 6–4 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 17,487 Recap 1411 Sat, Sept 14 7:00 p.m. EDT @ Saskatchewan Roughriders L 25–27 6–5 TSN/RDS Mosaic Stadium 30,205 Recap 1512 Sat, Sept 21 4:00 p.m. EDT Winnipeg Blue Bombers W 38–37 7–5 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 19,070 Recap 1613 Sat, Sept 28 10:00 p.m. EDT @ BC Lions L 23–25 7–6 TSN/RDS BC Place 17,353 Recap 1714 Sat, Oct 5 4:00 p.m. EDT Calgary Stampeders W 21–17 8–6 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 18,454 Recap 1815 Sat, Oct 12 4:00 p.m. EDT @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 24–35 8–7 TSN/RDS IG Field 20,907 Recap 1916 Fri, Oct 18 7:00 p.m. EDT Toronto Argonauts W 27–24 9–7 TSN/RDS/ESPNews Molson Stadium 17,003 Recap 2017 Sat, Oct 26 1:00 p.m. EDT Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 26–38 9–8 TSN/RDS Molson Stadium 17,264 Recap 2118 Fri, Nov 1 7:00 p.m. EDT @ Ottawa Redblacks W 42–32 10–8 TSN/RDS TD Place Stadium 24,592 Recap CFL schedule through August 2019RDS présente plus de 50 matchs de football de la LCF dès le jeudi 6 juin
Games played with white uniforms. Games played with blue uniforms.
Post-season Schedule Game Date Kickoff Opponent Results TV Venue Attendance Summary Score RecordEast 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
Games played with blue uniforms.
Roster Montreal Alouettes 2019 final roster Quarterbacks
Running backs
Receivers
Offensive linemen G/T T/G C T/G G T G/C G/T
Defensive linemen DE DT DE DE DT DT DE DE Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams LS K/P
Practice roster WR LB DT DB WR RB QB DT DB K/PInjured list DT DB DB SB LB T T/G DB LB WR WR DE WR RB T
Italics indicate American players
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
References
External links