The Hamilton Tiger-Cats named Cyril Penn as director of player personnel, Dane Vandernat as director of pro scouting, and Alex Russell as director of scouting on Friday.
“We’re excited to welcome these three individuals to our football operations department,” said Tiger-Cats General Manager Ted Goveia.
“During our time together in Winnipeg, Cyril proved himself to be an intelligent and tireless worker, with a strong background in recruiting and analytics. Alex combines a great work ethic with a wealth of knowledge in football operations, salary cap management, and scouting.
I’ve known Dane for over a decade, and his impressive background in pro football with the Raiders, along with his leadership experience in organizing the NFLPA All-Star Game, will make him a valuable part of our team. We’re looking forward to seeing the impact they will all have on our organization.”
Cyril Penn is from Sonoma, California. He previously spent four seasons as an assistant director of player personnel for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers working with Hamilton General Manager Ted Goveia. He joined Winnipeg in 2021 as a scouting intern and spent two seasons as a U.S. National Scout.
Before joining Winnipeg, Penn worked for the University of Massachusetts and the College Gridiron Showcase All-Star event. He began his professional career as a sports reporter and editor for The 33rd Team, SB Nation, the San Francisco Examiner, and the Napa Valley Register.
Dane Vandernat is from Kansas City, Missouri. He spent the last five years as the director of player personnel (2021-23) and director of college recruiting (2019-21) for the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. Before working for the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, Vandernat spent 10 years with the Oakland Raiders in the personnel department, including four years as the team’s director of pro personnel.
Alex Russell is from Ancaster, Ontario. He spent last season with the Ottawa Redblacks as an assistant director of U.S. scouting. Russell worked for the Ticats from 2016-18 as a coordinator of football operations and coordinator of football administration. After Hamilton, Russell spent five seasons with the Toronto Argonauts as a coordinator of football operations, manager of football operations, director of football operations, and national scout.
