The Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group announced on Sunday that Shawn Burke has been fired as the Vice President of Football Operations of the Ottawa Redblacks.
“This is a difficult decision because I have a lot of respect for Shawn,” said OSEG CEO Mark Goudie. “Nobody can question how hard he has worked or how much he cares about the Redblacks. Shawn has embraced this organization and this community, and he has given an enormous amount of himself to the job. I am very grateful to him for that commitment.”
Goudie continued, “At the same time, our football results have not been good enough. Ultimately, I have a responsibility to make changes when I believe we need a different approach, and I have concluded that a change in our football leadership is necessary. Shawn has been a dedicated member of the Redblacks organization over the past five seasons. I want to thank him for the professionalism, hard work, and commitment he brought to the role, and I wish him and his family the very best.”
Shawn Burke joined the Redblacks in 2021 as the General Manager until 2025, before he was promoted to Vice President of Football Operations in 2026. Burke is from Guelph, Ontario.
Before Ottawa, he spent 15 years with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, holding different positions from Director of Community Relations (2007-10), Director of Football Operations (2009-10), Assistant General Manager (2016-18), and Senior Director of Player Personnel and Co-Manager of Football Operations (2019-21).
During his time in Hamilton, the Tiger-Cats made back-to-back Grey Cup appearances. They would lose the Grey Cup twice to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Since 2021, the Redblacks have had a record of 24-71-1, making the playoffs one time in 2024 in an East Semi-Final loss to the eventual Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts. OSEG will provide further updates on the football operations structure shortly.
