GREG MARSHALL DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR / ASSISTANT HEAD COACH / LINEBACKERS COACH

Greg Marshall brings over a decade of experience as defensive coordinator and a reputation for stout defences to Hamilton as the Tiger-Cats defensive coordinator, linebackers coach and assistant head coach.  

In 2009, his first season with the Ticats, the team surrendered just 428 points – the second fewest in the CFL and a 199-point improvement from the previous season.  Linebackers Jamall Johnson and Markeith Knowlton finished first and second among all CFL defenders in defensive tackles and earned spots on the East Division and CFL All-Star teams.   

He spent 2006-08 as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, where his stingy defence helped the Bombers reach the Grey Cup in 2007.  In each of his three seasons in Winnipeg, Marshall’s defence ranked among the top three CFL teams in quarterback sacks.

In 2006, Marshall’s first year with the Bombers, he inherited a defence that was coming off one of the worst statistical performances in CFL history.  One year later, after a season which saw the defence surrender a league-record 8,249 yards and 513 points, Marshall’s defensive unit improved vastly to allow the third-fewest yards (5,500), just 396 points, and ranked in the top three of 14 defensive categories that season.

Prior to his stint in Winnipeg, he spent 2005 with the Ottawa Renegades as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.  Ottawa’s opportunistic defence recorded 57 takeaways and finished second in the league with 25 interceptions.  

Before his time in the nation’s capital, Marshall served five seasons (2000-04) as the Edmonton Eskimos defensive coordinator and defensive line coach.  In 2003, Marshall’s defence played an integral role in the Eskimos Grey Cup championship, leading the CFL in fewest points allowed (367), fewest points per game allowed (20.4 and fewest touchdowns allowed (37).

He began his CFL coaching career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1994 as defensive line coach.  After two seasons as defensive line coach, Marshall added the title of defensive coordinator, a position he would hold for four seasons until 1999.  While in Saskatchewan, he also serves as the team’s coordinator for the CFL Canadian Draft.

Marshall served as a guest coach at the Toronto Argonauts training camp in 1991 and at the Ottawa Rough Riders training camp in 1992 and 1993.  

Prior to joining the CFL, Marshall enjoyed three seasons with the CJFL’s Ottawa Sooners, where he earned CJFL coach of the year honours after leading his squad to an undefeated season and national junior championship in 1992.

His first coaching stint came with the American Football Alliance’s Ottawa Bootleggers.  He was head coach of the Bootleggers for two seasons, including their undefeated campaign in 1990.

As a player, Marshall was one of the CFL’s most feared defensive lineman during his nine-year career.  He was a four-time Eastern All-Star, two-time CFL All-Star and was named the CFL’s defensive lineman of the year in 1983.  Marshall was originally drafted by the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles in the seventh round of the 1978 NFL Draft and had brief stints with the Eagles and Baltimore Colts.  

Marshall and his wife, Cindy, have four children – Christine, Bryan, Caitlin and Kelsey.