Michael Lionello is a Canadian professional football coach who is the receivers coach for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a Grey Cup champion after winning with the Alouettes in 2023.
| Montreal Alouettes | |
 Lionello with the Alouettes in 2022 | |
| Born: | 1991 (age 32–33)[1] Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
|---|---|
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Receivers coach |
| University | Victoria |
| High school | South Delta Secondary |
| Career history | |
| As administrator | |
| 2014–2015 | Simon Fraser Clan (Director of football operations) (Recruiting co-coordinator) |
| As coach | |
| 2015 | Simon Fraser Clan (Running backs coach) |
| 2016 | BC Lions (Quality control coach) |
| 2017–2018 | BC Lions (Running backs coach) |
| 2019 | Toronto Argonauts (Running backs coach) |
| 2020–2021 | Montreal Alouettes (Offensive assistant) |
| 2022–present | Montreal Alouettes (Receivers coach) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Early life
editLionello grew up in Delta, British Columbia and played high school football at South Delta Secondary in his senior year.[1] He later attended the University of Victoria.[1]
Coaching career
editSimon Fraser Clan
editLionello began his coaching career with the Simon Fraser Clan in 2013 after emailing head coach Dave Johnson and offering assistance with the team.[1] In 2014, he served as the team's director of football operations and in 2015, he added the titles of running backs coach, recruiting co-coordinator, and video coordinator.[2]
BC Lions
editLionello joined the coaching staff of BC Lions as their quality control coach on March 8, 2016.[1] He was promoted to running backs coach in 2017 and served in that role for two seasons.[3] He was not retained for the 2019 season by the team's new head coach, DeVone Claybrooks.[4]
Toronto Argonauts
editOn March 26, 2019, it was announced that Lionello had joined the Toronto Argonauts as the team's running backs coach, reuniting him with former SFU head coach, Jacques Chapdelaine, who was the team's offensive coordinator.[5] After a disappointing season for the team, Lionello was not retained for 2020.
Montreal Alouettes
editOn January 9, 2020, it was announced that Lionello had been hired as an offensive assistant for the Montreal Alouettes, replacing the fired Barron Miles.[6] However, he did not coach in 2020 following the cancellation of the 2020 CFL season. On May 11, 2022, he was promoted to receivers coach for the team.[3][7] He won his first Grey Cup championship in 2023 after the Alouettes defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 110th Grey Cup game.[8]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "Quality control coach paves football path". BC Lions. April 11, 2016.
- ^ "Football Coaching Staff Set". Simon Fraser Red Leafs. April 10, 2015.
- ^ a b "Michael Lionello". Montreal Alouettes. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
- ^ "Lions announce seven members of coaching staff not coming back for 2019". Oak Bay News. December 13, 2018.
- ^ "Mike Lionello joins Argos coaching staff". Toronto Argonauts. March 26, 2019.
- ^ "Coaching staff finalized; Barron Miles is back in the nest". Montreal Alouettes. January 9, 2020.
- ^ "Nice catch: Montreal Alouettes name Mike Lionello receivers coach". 3DownNation. May 11, 2022.
- ^ "Grey Cup comes to Tsawwassen". Delta Optimist. March 25, 2024.