Can Jim Popp save the Ottawa Redblacks?

Jim Popp during his tenure as Toronto Argonauts GM. Postmedia Network files

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Did Shawn Burke bump into an old acquaintance when he left the Ottawa Redblacks’ offices as vice president of football operations for the last time on Sunday?

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Did he come face-to-face with Jim Popp, who was announced as the team’s senior football advisor on Monday morning?

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Likely not, but Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group CEO Mark Goudie certainly wasted no time in hiring the man who appears to be replacing Burke as GM/head coach Ryan Dinwiddie’s right-hand man at the top of the Redblacks’ chain of decision-makers.

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And, in Popp, he couldn’t have found a candidate with a more impressive resume.

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The only question is, how closely has the 61-year-old product of Elkin, NC, followed the Canadian Football League and prospective players who can excel in the Canadian game since he was fired from his previous CFL job as GM of the Toronto Argos in 2019?

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At this point, the Redblacks have nothing to lose.

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Popp, who has been the United States Football League’s VP of player personnel and director of player administration from  2022 until returning to a post north of the border, had a magical run of success in the CFL that began with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1992, when he was director of player personnel and wide receivers coach under the legendary Don Matthews.

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After getting his first taste of playoff action in those two seasons, he accepted a job as GM and director of player personnel with the Baltimore Stallions when the CFL expanded to the U.S in 1993.

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Under Popp’s guidance, the Stallions reached the Grey Cup in both years of their existence and won the coveted mug in 1995.

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It was the first of Popp’s five Grey Cup rings.

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When the NFL returned to Baltimore as the Ravens in 1996, former Stallions owner Jim Speros decided to revive the Alouettes in Montreal.

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He made Popp his vice president, GM, director of football operations and director of player personnel, essentially handing him the keys to the franchise.

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Popp thrived with the responsibilities.

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Over the next 21 years, five with Matthews as his head coach, he strung together one of the longest tenures as a GM in pro sports.

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Popp and the Als parted ways in 2016, after the team missed the playoffs for a second consecutive year, and in 2017 he became GM of the Argos.

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In his first year there, Toronto finished with a 9-9 regular-season record that was good enough for a first-place finish in the East, then went on to defeat the Calgary Stampeders 27-24 in the 105th Grey Cup game.

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The Argos missed the playoffs the following season and Popp was fired after their 2-12 start in 2019.