Defensive co-ordinator Greg Quick in third stint with Toronto Argonauts

GUELPH — Greg Quick is the definition of a football lifer.

He played centre at Ohio’s Baldwin-Wallace College before entering the coaching ranks in 1979 at Emporia State University in Kansas.

In a career that’s spanned four-plus decades at the high school, NCAA and Canadian professional levels, Quick has held numerous coaching positions — on both sides of the ball — and administrative roles, including the CFL’s first-ever director of global scouting in 2019.

Quick is in his third stint with the Toronto Argonauts, currently as their defensive co-ordinator and linebackers coach. He previously coached linebackers in 2010-11 and again in 2018.

Quick, 69, joined Toronto following a third coaching tenure with Montreal (2021-25). He appeared in two Grey Cups with the Alouettes, winning in 2023.

Quick has also been a head coach at the University of Chicago (1989-93), Wisconsin’s St. Norbert College (1994-98) and West Virginia’s Concord University (2003-08). He posted a combined 48-112 record.

He was the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive co-ordinator in 2015.

This time around in Toronto, Quick is on Mike Miller’s staff. Miller is in his first season as a CFL head coach.

“To arrive at this place and time together is just exciting,” Quick said. “Mike and I have had a professional connection of shaking hands on the field but otherwise no real connection.

“We’re both Midwest guys even though he’s from Pittsburgh and I’m from Cleveland, so I guess we have a little bit of a rivalry there. But having the opportunity to coach with him has been a blessing.”

Last season, Toronto (5-13) allowed the most offensive touchdowns (54), offensive points per game (28.8), passing TDs (35), yards per play (7.07) and 30-plus yard catches (39) in the CFL. Their defence was also eighth against the run (105.7 yards per game).

Toronto finished tied with Calgary for most defensive return TDs (five) and was fourth in sacks (41). But opposing offences drove for touchdowns a league-high 22.6 per cent of time.

The return of defensive tackle Ralph Holley (Cleveland, NFL) should boost Toronto’s defensive front. Holley helped the Argos win the ’24 Grey Cup, finishing tied for the league lead in sacks (eight) in his first CFL season.

Defensive end Andrew Chatfield Jr. had a team-high seven sacks last season but linebacker Aaron Casey was second with six. The inside presence of the six-foot-one, 285-pound Holley should give Chatfield more one-on-one matchups.

Also back are linebacker Adarius Pickett and defensive backs DaShaun Amos and Robert Priester. Pickett was the East Division’s outstanding defensive player in ’23 with the Argos before heading to Ottawa while Amos and Priester helped the franchise win Grey Cups in 2022 and ’24 but spent last season with Hamilton and the Redblacks, respectively.

A big hole exists at middle linebacker with the departure of veteran Wynton McManis (Hamilton). The six-foot, 220-pound McManis was part of two Grey Cup winners and twice was a CFL all-star over his four seasons with the club.

McManis missed 11 games the last two seasons with injuries, allowing Issac Darkangelo to get playing time. Darkangelo, 25, had 82 tackles (60 defensive, 22 special teams), two sacks and two forced fumbles in 2025.

Pickett joins Canadian linebacker Cameron Judge, who last year posted a team-high 83 tackles (79 defensive, four special teams), three sacks, two interceptions, two forced fumbles and a TD.

“I think change does happen and obviously when there’s a change in leadership there’s the opportunity for that momentum to gain even more,” Quick said. “We have some very talented defensive players returning that have great equity in the game but we also want to create competition.

“We all need competition and we can’t rest on what anybody has done in the past. We must identify their strengths and how we use them.”

Training camp is not only a time to do that but also determine the defence’s overall strengths and weaknesses.

“It’s important for us to maximize the capabilities of the young men we have,” Quick said. “That’s really why Mike hired me.

“If I have a strength I’d attest to, it’s that ability to identify strengths or weaknesses and then maximize their capabilities within our system. Training camp is just so important, it’s imperative to that process.”

But it’s one Quick feels will also be intriguing to Argos fans.

“I encourage people to watch and turn the pages because it’s going to be exciting,” he said. “Every chapter in this season is really going to be a lot of fun to experience.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2026.

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press