2021 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season

2021 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season
General manager	Drew Allemang and Shawn Burke
Head coach	Orlondo Steinauer
Home field	Tim Hortons Field
Results
Record	8–6
Division place	2nd, East
Playoff finish	Lost Grey Cup
Team MOP	Simoni Lawrence
Team MODP	Simoni Lawrence
Team MOC	Tunde Adeleke
Team MOOL	Brandon Revenberg
Team MOST	Nic Cross
Team MOR	Desmond Lawrence
Uniform
←  2020 Tiger-Cats seasons 2022  →

The 2021 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season was the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 71st overall. The Tiger-Cats qualified for the playoffs for the third consecutive year following their week 14 win over the BC Lions on November 5, 2021. ^[1] The team defeated the Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts in the playoffs to qualify for their 22nd Grey Cup game appearance. In a rematch of the previous season's game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Tiger-Cats lost to the Blue Bombers 33–25 in overtime in the 108th Grey Cup game.

The 2021 season was the second season under co-general managers Drew Allemang and Shawn Burke and the second season under head coach Orlondo Steinauer. ^[2]

An 18-game season schedule was originally released on November 20, 2020, but it was announced on April 21, 2021 that the start of the season would likely be delayed until August and feature a 14-game schedule. ^{[3] [4]} On June 15, 2021, the league released the revised 14-game schedule with regular season play beginning on August 5, 2021. ^[5]

Offseason

CFL Global Draft

The 2021 CFL Global Draft took place on April 15, 2021. ^{[6] [7]} With the format being a snake draft, the Tiger-Cats selected eighth in the odd-numbered rounds and second in the even-numbered rounds. ^[6]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	University/Club Team	Nationality
1	8	Joel Whitford	P	Washington	Australia
2	11	Chris Mulumba	DL	Colorado	Finland
3	26	David Izinyon	LB	Rostock Griffins	Great Britain
4	29	Dominik Eberle	K	Utah State	Germany

CFL National Draft

The 2021 CFL Draft took place on May 4, 2021. ^{[8] [9]} The Tiger-Cats had the most selections in the six-round draft with seven picks after acquiring another first-round pick (ninth overall) from the Montreal Alouettes as part of the Johnny Manziel trade. ^[10] The team had the first pick in odd rounds and the ninth pick in even rounds. ^[11]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	University Team	Hometown
1	1	Jake Burt	TE	Boston College	Lynnfield, MA
1	9	Nick Cross	LB	British Columbia	Regina, SK
2	18	Deane Leonard	DB	Mississippi	Calgary, AB
3	19	Mohamed Diallo	DL	Central Michigan	Toronto, ON
4	36	Jarek Richards	LB	Saint Mary's	Montreal, QC
5	37	Felix Garand-Gauthier	FB	Laval	Mirabel, QC
6	54	Myles Manalo	LB	Western	Burlington, ON

Preseason

Due to the shortening of the season, the CFL confirmed that pre-season games would not be played in 2021. ^[5]

Planned schedule

Week	Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	TV	Venue
A	Bye
B	1	Thu, May 27	7:30 p.m. EDT	at Toronto Argonauts	NA	BMO Field
C	2	Thu, June 3	7:30 p.m. EDT	vs. Toronto Argonauts	NA	Tim Hortons Field

^[12]

Regular season

Season standings

East Division view talk edit
Team	GP	W	L	T	Pts	PF	PA	Div	Stk
Toronto Argonauts	14	9	5	0	18	309	318	6–2	L1	Details
Hamilton Tiger-Cats	14	8	6	0	16	312	244	4–4	W1	Details
Montreal Alouettes	14	7	7	0	14	356	295	5–3	L1	Details
Ottawa Redblacks	14	3	11	0	6	224	384	1–7	W1	Details

Season schedule

The Tiger-Cats initially had a schedule that featured 18 regular season games beginning on June 10 and ending on October 29. ^[3] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the Canadian Football League delayed the start of the regular season to August 5, 2021 and the Tiger-Cats began their 14-game season on August 5, 2021. ^[5]

Week	Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
					Score	Record
1	1	Thu, Aug 5	8:30 p.m. EDT	@ Winnipeg Blue Bombers	L 6–19	0–1	TSN/ESPN2	IG Field	29,376	Recap
2	2	Sat, Aug 14	10:00 p.m. EDT	@ Saskatchewan Roughriders	L 8–30	0–2	TSN/ESPNews	Mosaic Stadium	27,076	Recap
3	Bye
4	3	Fri, Aug 27	7:30 p.m. EDT	@ Montreal Alouettes	W 27–10	1–2	TSN/RDS/ESPNews	Molson Stadium	14,753	Recap
5	4	Mon, Sept 6	1:00 p.m. EDT	Toronto Argonauts	W 32–19	2–2	TSN/RDS2	Tim Hortons Field	15,000	Recap
6	5	Fri, Sept 10	7:30 p.m. EDT	@ Toronto Argonauts	L 16–17	2–3	TSN/RDS2	BMO Field	9,702	Recap
7	6	Fri, Sept 17	7:00 p.m. EDT	Calgary Stampeders	W 23–17	3–3	TSN/RDS	Tim Hortons Field	15,000	Recap
8	7	Wed, Sept 22	7:30 p.m. EDT	@ Ottawa Redblacks	W 24–7	4–3	TSN/RDS2	TD Place Stadium	12,041	Recap
9	8	Sat, Oct 2	4:00 p.m. EDT	Montreal Alouettes	L 23–20 (OT)	4–4	TSN/RDS	Tim Hortons Field	18,000	Recap
10	9	Mon, Oct 11	4:00 p.m. EDT	Toronto Argonauts	L 23–24	4–5	TSN	Tim Hortons Field	21,378	Recap
11	Bye
12	10	Sat, Oct 23	4:00 p.m. EDT	Ottawa Redblacks	W 32–3	5–5	TSN/RDS2	Tim Hortons Field	20,112	Recap
13	11	Fri, Oct 29	9:45 p.m. EDT	@ Edmonton Elks	W 39–23	6–5	TSN	Commonwealth Stadium	22,857	Recap
14	12	Fri, Nov 5	7:00 p.m. EDT	BC Lions	W 26–18	7–5	TSN/RDS	Tim Hortons Field	21,618	Recap
15	13	Fri, Nov 12	7:30 p.m. EST	@ Toronto Argonauts	L 12–31	7–6	TSN/ESPNews	BMO Field	10,851	Recap
16	14	Sat, Nov 20	4:00 p.m. EST	Saskatchewan Roughriders	W 24–3	8–6	TSN/RDS	Tim Hortons Field	22,344	Recap

^{[13] [14] [15]}

Post-season

Schedule

Game	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		TV	Venue	Attendance	Summary
				Score	Record
East Semi-Final	Sun, Nov 28	1:00 p.m. EST	Montreal Alouettes	W 23–12	1–0	TSN/RDS/ESPN2	Tim Hortons Field	21,892	Recap
East Final	Sun, Dec 5	12:30 p.m. EST	@ Toronto Argonauts	W 27–19	2–0	TSN/RDS/ESPN2	BMO Field	21,492	Recap
108th Grey Cup	Sun, Dec 12	6:00 p.m. EST	Winnipeg Blue Bombers	L 25–33 (OT)	2–1	TSN/RDS/ESPN2	Tim Hortons Field	26,324	Recap

^[12]

Team

Roster

Hamilton Tiger-Cats roster

	Quarterbacks  9 Dane Evans  8 Jeremiah Masoli Receivers 80 Jaelon Acklin 16 Brandon Banks WR/KR 82 Steven Dunbar 88 Tyler Ternowski 83 David Ungerer  4 Papi White WR/KR 12 Tim White Running backs 29 Jackson Bennett 31 Sean Thomas Erlington  5 Don Jackson Fullbacks 38 Felix Garand-Gauthier 84 Nikola Kalinic Offensive linemen 60 Darius Ciraco C 67 Jesse Gibbon 69 Jordan Murray LT 57 Brandon Revenberg LG 64 Coulter Woodmansey RG 54 Chris Van Zeyl RT 50 Travis Vornkahl		Defensive linemen 99 Lee Autry DT 90 Mason Bennett DE 93 Malik Carney DE 56 Ja'Gared Davis DE 95 Julian Howsare DE 92 Chris Mulumba DT 98 Dylan Wynn DT Linebackers 28 Tyrice Beverette 39 Nic Cross 36 Bailey Feltmate 23 Chris Frey 21 Simoni Lawrence 44 Curtis Newton 45 Jovan Santos-Knox Defensive backs  2 Tunde Adeleke 26 Cariel Brooks 35 Mike Daly  0 Ciante Evans 30 Stavros Katsantonis 11 Kameron Kelly 25 Jumal Rolle		Special teams 19 Michael Domagala K 32 Joel Whitford P 58 Gordon Whyte LS 1-Game Injured List 86 Bralon Addison WR 34 Wes Hills RB 20 Maleek Irons RB 97 Ted Laurent DT 24 Desmond Lawrence DB 94 Lorenzo Mauldin DE  6 David Watford QB 27 Kyle Wilson LB 6-Game Injured List  3 Jake Burt FB 42 Myles Manalo LB 59 Kay Okafor OL  1 Frankie Williams DB/KR		Practice Roster 61 Joseph Bencze OL 96 Ronheen Bingham DE 37 Adonis Davis DB 18 Gabriel Ferraro K 77 Valentin Gnahoua DE 17 Marcus Green WR/KR 47 David Izinyon DE  7 Jalin Marshall WR 13 Jalen Morton QB 33 Patrick Nelson LB 43 Jarek Richards LB 53 Tom Schnitzler DT 14 Channing Stribling DB 46 Malcolm Thompson DB 91 Eddy Wilson DT 55 John Yarbrough OL
Italics indicate American player • Bold indicates Global player • 45 Active, 8 One-game injured, 4 Six-game injured, 16 Practice Roster updated 2021-12-12 • Depth chart • Transactions • More CFL rosters

Coaching staff

Hamilton Tiger-Cats staff

	Front office Caretaker – Bob Young Chief executive officer – Scott Mitchell President and chief operating officer – Matt Afinec Sr. Director of Personnel & Co-Manager of Football Operations – Drew Allemang Sr. Director of Personnel & Co-Manager of Football Operations – Shawn Burke Director of U.S. Scouting – Spencer Zimmerman Manager of U.S. Scouting – Rich Massaro Coordinator, Canadian Scouting – Spencer Boehm Coordinator, Football Operations – Lucas Brenton Video co-ordinator – Matt Allemang Assistant video co-ordinator – Nick Roberto Head coach Head coach – Orlondo Steinauer Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator & Quarterbacks – Tommy Condell Offensive line – Mike Gibson Wide receivers – Jarryd Baines			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Mark Washington Defensive line – Randy Melvin Linebackers – Robin Ross Defensive backs – Craig Butler Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Jeff Reinebold Special teams assistant – Craig Butler → Coaching Staff → More CFL staffs

References

1. "Ticats clinch playoff spot with win over Lions". Canadian Football League. November 5, 2021.
2. "Ticats officially name Orlondo Steinauer head coach - CFL.ca". CFL.ca. December 3, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
3. "Divisional games take centre stage in unique 2021 schedule". Canadian Football League. November 20, 2020.
4. "CFL Announces Plans To Return-to-play For 2021 Season". Canadian Football League. April 21, 2021.
5. "Circle your calendars: CFL releases 2021 schedule". Canadian Football League. June 15, 2021.
6. "CFL calendar busy with free agency, virtual combines, drafts". Canadian Football League. February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
7. "2021 Global Draft tracker". Canadian Football League . Retrieved April 15, 2021.
8. "CFL announces date for 2021 CFL National Draft". cfl.ca. Canadian Football League. March 30, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
9. "2021 CFL Draft to feature some significant changes". CFL.ca. November 5, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
10. "Als acquire Johnny Manziel in blockbuster deal". CFL.ca. July 22, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
11. "Ti-Cats snag first selection as CFL reveals 2021 order". CFL.ca. November 21, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
12. "2021 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Schedule". Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
13. "2021 Schedule". Canadian Football League . Retrieved June 14, 2021.
14. "Le football de la LCF de retour sur RDS dès le samedi 7 août" (in French). Canadian Football League. August 3, 2021.
15. "ESPN Networks, ESPN+ to carry entire 2021 CFL season". Canadian Football League. August 4, 2021.