The 2021 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season was the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League (CFL) 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. 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.
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. On June 15, 2021, the league released the revised 14-game schedule with regular season play beginning on August 5, 2021.
Offseason
CFL global draft The 2021 CFL global draft took place on April 15, 2021. With the format being a snake draft, the Tiger-Cats selected eighth in the odd-numbered rounds and second in the even-numbered rounds.
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. 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. The team had the first pick in odd rounds and the ninth pick in even rounds.
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.
Planned schedule Week Game Date Kickoff Opponent TV Venue A Bye B 1 Thu, May 27 7:30 p.m. EDT at Toronto Argonauts BMO Field C 2 Thu, June 3 7:30 p.m. EDT vs. Toronto Argonauts Tim Hortons Field
Regular season
Season standings
Season schedule The Tiger-Cats initially had a schedule that featured 18 regular season games beginning on June 10 and ending on October 29. 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.
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 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
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 Sun, Dec 12 6:00 p.m. EST Winnipeg Blue Bombers L 25–33 2–1 TSN/RDS/ESPN2 Tim Hortons Field 26,324 Recap
Roster 2021 Hamilton Tiger-Cats final roster Quarterbacks
Running backs
Receivers
Offensive linemen C G T G T T G/C
Defensive linemen DT DE DE DE DE DT DT Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams K/P P LS
Injured list SB FB RB RB DT DB LB DE T QB DB LB Practice roster G DE DB K DE SB DE SB QB LB LB DE DB DB DT G/CItalics indicate American player • Bold indicates Global player
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
References