 Chapdelaine before anArgonauts game in 2019 | |
| Profile | |
|---|---|
| Positions | Offensive coordinator •QBC |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1961-08-24)August 24, 1961 (age 64) Sherbrooke,Quebec, Canada |
| Career information | |
| University | Simon Fraser University |
| CFL draft | 1983: 1st round, 5th overall pick |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1983–1984 | BC Lions |
| 1985 | Montreal Concordes |
| 1986 | Montreal Alouettes |
| 1987–1989 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
| 1989 | Calgary Stampeders |
Coaching | |
| 1990–1991 | Bishop's University (OC) |
| 1992 | Toronto Argonauts (ST & REC) |
| 1993–1996 | Bishop's University (OC) |
| 1997–2000 | Université Laval (HC) |
| 2001 | Calgary Stampeders (ST & REC) |
| 2002 | Calgary Stampeders (OC) |
| 2003–2004 | BC Lions (REC) |
| 2005–2006 | BC Lions (OC) |
| 2007 | Edmonton Eskimos (OC/Assistant HC) |
| 2008–2009 | BC Lions (REC) |
| 2010–2013 | BC Lions (OC) |
| 2014 | Simon Fraser University (HC) |
| 2015 | Saskatchewan Roughriders (OC) |
| 2016 | Montreal Alouettes (REC) |
| 2016–2017 | Montreal Alouettes (HC) |
| 2019 | Toronto Argonauts (OC/QB) |
| Awards and highlights | |
Jacques Chapdelaine (born August 24, 1961) is a Canadian professionalfootball coach and former professionalslotback in theCanadian Football League (CFL). He most recently served as theoffensive coordinator andquarterbacks coach for theToronto Argonauts of the CFL. He has also served as the offensive coordinator for four other CFL teams, thehead coach of theMontreal Alouettes (2016-17), and the head coach for two Canadian university football teams. He has won threeGrey Cup championships as an assistant coach and oneVanier Cup as the head coach of theLaval Rouge et Or. He played collegiately for theSimon Fraser Clan as awide receiver and played between 1983 and 1989 for four different CFL teams.
Chapdelaine was drafted with the fifth pick of the first round in the1983 CFL draft by theBC Lions.[1] He had a productive first season with the Lions, recording 22 catches for 258 yards in1983. Despite dressing in all 16 games in 1984, he caught only seven passes, leading to his trade to theMontreal Concordes during the following offseason.[2] While his 1985 season with the Concordes was just as unproductive as the previous with the Lions, he posted career high totals with the re-brandedMontreal Alouettes in1986 with 53 receptions for 688 yards and his first career touchdown. The Alouettes franchise folded just before the1987 season and Chapdelaine was selected in the dispersal draft by theHamilton Tiger-Cats. He had two productive seasons in Hamilton, but fell out of favour in 1989, leading to his release in August of that year. He was signed by theCalgary Stampeders and played in one game before eventually retiring. Over the course of his career, he played in 94 games, recording 166 catches for 2,066 yards and six touchdowns.[3]
Chapdelaine began his coaching career in his hometown ofSherbrooke,Quebec with theBishop's Gaiters as an assistant coach in 1990. After two years with Bishop's, he joined theToronto Argonauts as their special teams coach. He returned to Bishop's in 1993 as theiroffensive coordinator and spent four years in that position. Following that successful stint, Chapdelaine was selected as thehead coach for theUniversité LavalRouge et Or football program in just its second year of existence in 1997. In the program's fourth year, Chapdelaine led the Rouge et Or to a victory in the35th Vanier Cup in 1999, the first in school history. The Rouge et Or became the first francophone school to win theVanier Cup. Laval also finished with an 8-0 record in the2000 season, but they were upset at home by theOttawa Gee-Gees in theDunsmore Cup.
After a successfulCIS football coaching career, Chapdelaine moved on to join theCalgary Stampeders as theirSpecial teams coordinator andreceivers coach in2001. That year, the Stampeders won the89th Grey Cup, thanks in part to a blocked punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the game. Thenext season, he was promoted tooffensive coordinator, but the team struggled and Calgary's head coachWally Buono was fired at season's end.
Buono was hired by theBC Lions in2003 and Chapdelaine joined him there as their receivers coach. In2005, Chapdelaine was promoted again to offensive coordinator and helped the Lions to a team record 11-0 start to the season, before losing five of their last six games and losing in the West Final. In the2006 season, the Lions led the league in points scored, finished with a 13-5 record and won the94th Grey Cup. Chapdelaine translated that success into a promotion with theEdmonton Eskimos as their assistant head coach and offensive coordinator in2007. However, the Eskimos had an abysmal 5-12-1 season and Chapdelaine was fired at the end of the season.
He re-joined the BC Lions as their receivers coach in2008, and resumed his offensive coordinator post in2010. We won his thirdGrey Cup championship in2011 as the Lions overcame an 0-5 start to that season to finish with an 11-7 record and west division title. The Lions posted another strong season offensively in2012, but regressed in2013 following an injury to starting quarterbackTravis Lulay. At the conclusion of the 2013 season, the Lions and Chapdelaine agreed to part ways.[4]
On February 4, 2014, it was announced that Chapdelaine was hired as the head coach of theSimon Fraser Clan, marking a return to his alma mater andAmerican football rules.[5] The Clan finished with a 2-9 record (2-7 conference record) that year. Unexpectedly, Chapdelaine resigned on December 17, 2014 after the season to pursue other career opportunities.[6]
Following his resignation from SFU, Chapdelaine joined theSaskatchewan Roughriders as theiroffensive coordinator on December 19, 2014.[7] The Roughriders sustained an injury to starting quarterbackDarian Durant and struggled all year, finishing dead last in the CFL with a 3-15 record. Nonetheless, the team finished third overall in total offense with 6,442 yards and led the league in rushing yards with 2,150 on the ground.[3] Following the disappointing season, the Roughriders' management fired all of the coaching staff and new head coach,Chris Jones, brought in his staff fromEdmonton.
Chapdelaine was hired by theMontreal Alouettes on February 8, 2016 as their receivers coach and special advisor to the offensive coordinator,Anthony Calvillo, who was entering his first full season in that role.[8] With the team mired in an offensive slump and enduring a 3-9 record, head coachJim Popp stepped down and promoted Chapdelaine to head coach on September 19, 2016 during the team's bye week.[9] Chapdelaine is the first francophone head coach in the 62-year history of the Montreal Alouettes franchise.[10] He earned his first win in his first game as head coach against theToronto Argonauts in front of the first sellout crowd in Montreal since2010.[11] He finished the2016 season with a record of 4-2, including wins in the last three games of the regular season.
Despite front office changes and a new general manager, on December 14, 2016, the Alouettes announced that Chapdelaine would remain as their head coach for the2017 season.[12] After compiling a record of 3-8 during the 2017 season, Chapdelaine was fired on Sept. 13, 2017.[13]
Chapdelaine was announced as theToronto Argonauts' new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the2019 CFL season on February 7, 2019.[14] He was not retained as a member of the 2020 staff.
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Result | ||
| MTL | 2016 | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 3rd in East Division | 0 | 0 | Did not qualify |
| MTL | 2017 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .273 | Fired | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 10 | 0 | .412 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Fraser Clan(Great Northwest Athletic Conference)(2014) | |||||||||
| 2014 | Simon Fraser | 2–9 | 2–4 | 5th | |||||
| Simon Fraser: | 2–9 | 2–4 | |||||||
| Total: | 2–9 | ||||||||
His eldest son,Matt Chapdelaine, played as awide receiver for theAlberta Golden Bears before transferring toSimon Fraser University. Matt was drafted in the sixth round, 46th overall in the2010 CFL draft by theBC Lions. His younger son, Justin Chapdelaine, played quarterback and receiver for theQueen's Golden Gaels and was an offensive assistant with Jacques in Saskatchewan in 2015.[15]