Adrian Sciarra is leaving as president of the Ottawa Redblacks, the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group announced Monday.
Sciarra will stay on as president and alternate governor with the Ottawa 67’s Hockey Club while the Redblacks search for a new leader.
The change in leadership comes as Ottawa’s CFL team has posted no wins this season, contributing to the longest losing streak in the league’s modern era.
“Our fans have been patient and they deserve better,” said Mark Goudie, CEO of OSEG, in a news release. “We are making this change because the Redblacks need dedicated football leadership focused entirely on building a winning program. Our priority is to find a football leader with the experience, the CFL connections and the track record to help rebuild this club into a perennial Grey Cup contender. That search begins today.”
Goudie added that Sciarra has played an important role, securing founding partnerships and naming rights sponsors.
OSEG expects to have permanent executive leadership for the football team by the end of 2026, according to the release.
“John Ruddy and I are committed to winning football in Ottawa and to building a football organization that will be here for the long term,” Roger Greenberg, managing partner at OSEG and Redblacks governor, said. “That commitment is reflected in our investment in players, coaches, and facilities, and now in the new football leadership that we will bring to this club. We owe it to our fans and to this city to build a team that wins consistently, and that is exactly what we intend to do.”
When OBJ spoke with Goudie in June, before the 2026 season kicked off, he said the team was in rebuild mode, both on and off the field.
“The thing we’re most proud of is the fan experience at TD Place, which has always been awesome. What hasn’t kept up over the last couple of years is the quality of our team and the football on the field, so that’s the big thing we’re changing this season,” he said at the time.
In the off-season, the Redblacks made changes on and off the field, including hiring Ryan Dinwiddie as head coach and general manager. Dinwiddie won one Grey Cup as assistant coach of the Calgary Stampeders in 2018 and two Grey Cups as head coach of the Toronto Argonauts in 2022 and 2024.
“It’s a new vibe, a new energy and a new way of seeing things. It starts with the foundation that Shawn Burke, our vice-president of football operations, has built. Then, quality attracts quality,” Goudie told OBJ in June.
“The message we want to send to Ottawa football fans is that we’re back, we’re going to make this work and we’re going to make you proud of us. We leave it to (the coaches). They’re the experts. You hire the right people and you let them do their jobs.”
He said the team’s growth would take five or six years as it builds credibility and trust with the fanbase.
