The Ottawa Redblacks announced on Friday that the team and defensive coordinator Barron Miles agreed to mutually part ways. Miles ends a two-year stint with the Redblacks.
Barron Miles is 52 years old from Roselle, New Jersey. In 2024, Ottawa’s defense ranked fifth in touchdowns allowed (45), sixth in average points allowed (27.1), net offense allowed (370.1), and takeaways (31), and tied second in sacks (39).
“Barron has served our football club with class and professionalism over the last two seasons,” said Redblacks Head Coach Bob Dyce. “We thank him for his contributions to our team, and wish him nothing but the best going forward.”
As a player, Miles was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round (199th pick) of the 1995 NFL Draft. A knee injury in a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills ended his season. In 1997, he played for the Frankfurt Galaxy of the NFL Europe league.
In 1998, Miles joined the Montreal Alouettes. He played six seasons in Montreal making 285 tackles, two tackles on special teams, 30 interceptions for 456 yards, three touchdowns, six sacks, seven fumble recoveries, and two touchdowns in 99 games winning one Grey Cup in 2002.
In 2005, Miles signed with the B.C. Lions. He played five seasons making 219 tackles, two tackles on special teams, four fumble recoveries, one touchdown, one sack, 36 interceptions for 529 yards, and two touchdowns in 88 games. He won another Grey Cup title in 2006.
Miles was a six-time CFL All-Star, five-time CFL East All-Star, and five-time CFL West All-Star. He also won several awards including the Frank M. Gibson Trophy in 1998, the James P. McCaffrey Trophy in 2002, and the Tom Pate Memorial Award in 2004.
Miles retired after the 2009 season before transitioning to coaching. He began his coaching career as a defensive assistant for the B.C. Lions for two seasons. In 2012, he was named defensive backs coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and spent three seasons before moving on to Winnipeg in 2015 taking the same position.
In 2016, Miles was named a defensive back/player development coach. He spent three seasons in Edmonton before taking the same position with the Montreal Alouettes in 2020. However, there was no season in 2020 due to the pandemic. Miles was promoted to defensive coordinator by Montreal in 2021. He spent one and a half seasons before being let go on July 6, 2022.
Collegiately, Miles played three seasons at Nebraska (1992-94) making 101 tackles (59 solo, 42 assists), one tackle for loss, 19 pass breakups, seven interceptions for 35 yards, and seven blocked kicks in 33 games for the Cornhuskers. He was named First Team All-Big 8 and was a member of the National Championship team in 1994.
