Montreal Alouettes

Former CFL general manager Jim Popp serving on coaching staff at Alabama State

by
John Hodge
February 27, 2021

Former CFL general manager Jim Popp has resurfaced in the football world.

The 56-year-old recently joined the coaching staff at Alabama State where he serves as the assistant head coach and running backs coach. The team’s head coach, Donald Hill-Eley, has previously served on the coaching staff of the Baltimore Stallions (1994-95) and Toronto Argonauts (1996-97).

Alabama State is playing a shortened spring season after the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of their fall campaign. The team is currently 0-1 following a 24-21 loss to Southern University on Friday night.

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Popp broke into the CFL as the wide receivers coach and director of player personnel for the Saskatchewan Roughriders (1992-93).

The 56-year-old was hired as the general manager of the Baltimore Stallions in 1994 and held the role until 2016, long after the team moved to Montreal. The team went 254-159 under his watch, winning five Grey Cups and making 21 consecutive playoff appearances.

The native of Elkin, N.C. also served as the head coach of the Alouettes on four different occasions, leading the team to a 22-36 record with an appearance in the 2006 Grey Cup.

Popp became the general manager of the Toronto Argonauts in 2017 where he helped lead to the team to a Grey Cup that same year. The club went 6-26 in the two seasons that followed and Popp was fired late in the 2019 season.

John Hodge

John Hodge is a longtime Canadian football reporter, insider, and podcaster for 3DownNation. Based in Winnipeg, Hodge is also a freelance television and radio broadcaster and curling reporter for Rock Channel.