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Jim Popp

Popp in front of media at press conference.
Personal information
Born	(1964-12-21)December 21, 1964 (age 60) Elkin, North Carolina, U.S.
Career information
High school	Mooresville(Mooresville, North Carolina)
College	Michigan State
Positions	Wide receiver,defensive back
Career history
Playing
1983–1985	Michigan State
Coaching
1986	Michigan State (asst.)
1987	North Carolina (asst.)
1988–1990	The Citadel (QB,RB,WR)
1991	NFL EuropeRaleigh-Durham Skyhawks (WR,STC, S&C)
1992–1993	Saskatchewan Roughriders (WR)
2001	Montreal Alouettes (HC)
2006–2007	Montreal Alouettes (HC)
2013	Montreal Alouettes (HC)
2015–2016	Montreal Alouettes (HC)
2020–2021	Alabama State (AHC, RB)
Operations
1991-1992	PSFL (Director of Player Personnel)
1992–1993	Saskatchewan Roughriders (Director of Player Personnel)
1994–1995	Baltimore Stallions (GM, Director of Player Personnel)
1996–2016	Montreal Alouettes (VP, GM, Dir. of FB Opts, Dir. of Player Personnel)
2017–2019	Toronto Argonauts (GM)
2021	UNC Charlotte (Chief of Staff, Advisor to Head Coach)
2022 - Present	UFL (Vice President, Player Personnel, Director of Player Administration)
Awards and highlights
5xGrey Cup champion (1995,2002,2009,2010,2017) 18 Divisional Championship appearances 11 Grey Cup appearances

James Thomas Popp (born December 21, 1964) is an American sports executive and coach. Popp is Vice President, Player Personnel, for theUnited States Football League (USFL).^[1] In 2021, Popp was Chief of Staff, Advisor to the Head Coach for theCharlotte 49ers football and also a running back coach and assistant head coach for theAlabama State Hornets.^[2] He worked extensively in theCanadian Football League, and was most recently thegeneral manager of theToronto Argonauts. Popp spent over two decades as General Manager of theMontreal Alouettes including several stints as Head Coach. Popp served as General Manager for two years forBaltimore Stallions, and the Director of Player Personnel for theSaskatchewan Roughriders. As a CFL general manager, three separate franchises under Popp have won fiveGrey Cup championship wins out of 11 appearances.

Popp has led three separate franchises to a total of fiveGrey Cup championship wins (1995 with theBaltimore Stallions;2002,2009,2010 with the Montreal Alouettes;2017 with the Toronto Argonauts) and his teams have appeared in 18 Divisional Championship games and 11 Grey Cups.

Popp served as General Manager for 21 years with the Montreal Alouettes, one of the longest stints as a General Manager in sports. The Alouettes had the second highest win percentage of any sport (#1 New England Patriots) during a decade run that saw the team appear in 8 Grey Cups over 11 seasons. In 2011, Popp was named Canada's Sports Executive of the Year.

Popp earned a full athletic scholarship toMichigan State in football and baseball. He playeddefensive back andwide receiver during his football career underNick Saban andCharlie Baggett. He suffered a knee injury early in his career, forcing him to change football positions and ending his baseball career. He played for the Spartans from 1983 to 1985 and was part ofGeorge Perles' first recruiting class, and was the first recruit to earn a degree and graduate in three-and-a-half years.

Due to his knee injury, Popp worked for Perles at Michigan State in 1986 as a graduate assistant coach, under Saban and Baggett's tutelage.

In 1987, he accepted a graduate assistant job at theUniversity of North Carolina underDick Crum. Popp assisted both the quarterbacks and running backs forRandy Walker andLawson Holland.

During Popp's three seasons atThe Citadel from 1988 to 1990, he coached multiple positions—quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers—underCharlie Taaffe.

In 2020, Popp accepted the job as Assistant Head Coach and Running Backs Coach atAlabama State University, a member of the SWAC, reuniting him withDon Hill-Eley from theBaltimore Stallions days. The SWAC Conference moved the 2020 playing season to the spring of 2021 due to Covid-19.

Popp resigned his position in the summer of 2021.

Popp joinedWill Healy's staff at theUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte as Chief of Staff and Advisor to the Head Coach for the fall 2021 campaign.

In 1991, he served as the wide receivers, special teams coordinator, and strength and conditioning coach for theRaleigh-Durham Skyhawks of theWorld League of American Football, led byRoman Gabriel.

Before joining the CFL, Popp helped form a new pro football league called theProfessional Spring Football League in 1991–1992, with which Popp served as the league’s director of player personnel and worked with former NFL coachWalt Michaels.

Popp has joined the newly formedUnited States Football League (USFL). Popp has been named Vice President, Player Personnel and has served as Director of Player Administration.^[1] Popp still holds these positions with the current UFL after the USFL/XFL merger.

Popp was theSaskatchewan Roughriders' Director of Player Personnel and Wide Receivers coach underDon Matthews in 1992–1993.^{[citation needed]} The Roughriders appeared in the playoffs both years.

Popp served as the General Manager and Director of Player Personnel of theBaltimore Stallions in 1994–1995. The Stallions reached the Grey Cup both years winning in 1995, and remain the only American team to have won the Grey Cup. The Stallions remain the only CFL team in its history to win 18 games in a season.

After theNational Football League added theBaltimore Ravens, Stallions ownerJim Speros decided to relocate his team to Montreal as the second incarnation of theMontreal Alouettes, and Popp was named Vice President, General Manager, Director of Football Operations, and Director of Player Personnel in January 1996. While the Alouettes were allowed to reclaim the legacy of the original 1946–86 Alouettes, they were not allowed to keep their history as the Stallions, while Popp had to rebuild the roster as the Stallions players were released from their contracts and 14 of those players were signed by the NFL, though Popp was able to re-sign several key players from Baltimore. The 1996 expansion Alouettes team went on to have a 12–6 record and appear in the Eastern Division Championship game.

Popp reached the East Division Championship 15 out of 21 seasons, the Grey Cup eight times (2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010), three of which ended in victory (2002, 2009, 2010). He led the Alouettes to five consecutive seasons of 12 or more victories; the Alouettes are one of only three teams in CFL history to have accomplished that feat. Of the three CFL coaches in history to win back-to-back Coach of the Year honors, two did so working under Popp's time as general manager:Don Matthews in 1994–1995 and Taaffe in 1999–2000.Marc Trestman, one of Popp's head coaches in Montreal, made a direct crossover from the CFL to the NFL when he was hired by theChicago Bears in 2013, the first head coach to make such a transition sinceBud Grant went to theMinnesota Vikings in 1967.

Popp was hired as the General Manager of theToronto Argonauts on February 28, 2017. He took over a team that had lost 11 consecutive games the year prior and finished with a record of 5–13. Popp brought Marc Trestman in as the team's head coach; the GM/Head Coach duo had won consecutive Grey Cups together in2009 and2010, and had appeared in 3 straight championships working together in Montreal. Despite being hired after the free agency period had started two weeks earlier, Popp was able to make acquisitions with free agents such as former Montreal Alouettes playerBear Woods and trades with such players as former Montreal Alouettes playerS. J. Green and WR Armanti Edwards. The team finished the regular season at 9-9, which was good enough for first place in the East and a first-round bye in the playoffs. The Argos defeated the crossover Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Eastern Final, and theCalgary Stampeders in the105th Grey Cup CFL final. The Toronto Argonauts became the first team to go from worst to first in one season to win a championship.

Prior to the 2018 season, several players got into contract disputes with Popp and the team.^[3] Once the season began, the Argos got derailed quickly with a career-ending injury to starting quarterbackRicky Ray during the second game of the season.^[4] Popp had traded for prospectJames Franklin from theEdmonton Eskimos in the off-season, with the hopes of him being the successor to Ray. Franklin's struggles led to Trestman benching him for third stringerMcLeod Bethel-Thompson. The team finished the regular season at 4–14 and Trestman was fired at the end of the season. Popp hiredCorey Chamblin, the defensive coordinator during the Argos' 2017 championship season to be the head coach in for the next year.^[5] However, the 2019 season again saw the team struggle, with Popp fired as GM prior to the season ending.^[6]

The majority of Popp's head coaching career in the Canadian Football League has been as an interim head coach. Popp coached full-time for one season in 2007. During the 2001 season, Popp took over the team after ownerRobert C. Wetenhall firedRod Rust in the midst of a long losing streak. On October 4, 2006, following the resignation of Don Matthews for health reasons, Popp again took over as head coach and led the Alouettes to an appearance in the 2006 Grey Cup. Popp continued coaching the Alouettes during the2007 season as well, until Trestman was hired for 2008. On August 1, 2013, Popp returned as interim coach after new head coachDan Hawkins was fired.Tom Higgins was named Alouettes' head coach for 2014, although he too was fired during the 2015 season, and Popp returned to coaching for the fourth time.^[7] Popp continued as the head coach for part of the2016 CFL season before stepping back as strictly the General Manager.^[8]

Popp's son,Preston Popp, is a professional soccer player.^[9]

• 1964 births
• Living people
• American football defensive backs
• American football wide receivers
• Michigan State Spartans football coaches
• Michigan State Spartans football players
• Montreal Alouettes coaches
• Montreal Alouettes general managers
• North Carolina Tar Heels football coaches
• Saskatchewan Roughriders coaches
• The Citadel Bulldogs football coaches
• NFL Europe (WLAF) coaches
• People from Elkin, North Carolina
• People from Mooresville, North Carolina
• Players of American football from North Carolina
• Saskatchewan Roughriders personnel
• Coaches of American football from North Carolina
• Alabama State Hornets football coaches
• Baltimore Stallions
• Toronto Argonauts general managers
• United States Football League (2022) people

• Articles with short description
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