Follow CALGARY STAMPEDERS

© 2024 Calgary Stampeders. All rights reserved.

Menu
Features March 8, 2024

Life’s a ball for Campbell

You could say that football is in Molly Campbell’s blood.

She’s been around the game since the day she was born, fostering a lifelong passion that runs to her core.

“Growing up,” began Campbell, “I remember always going to football games and training camp was always my favourite time of year to go and watch. It meant football was back.

“Which is ironic,” she added with a laugh, “because now it’s one of my least favourite times of year because it’s so busy.”

Molly and her father Hugh Campbell.

The daughter of 10-time Grey Cup champion Hugh Campbell, Molly has been immersed in the sport since birth. The game was always top of mind, whether she was tagging along to practices and watching games on the weekends or discussing strategy and schemes at the dinner table. The love for the game was embraced by the whole family including her brother Rick, currently the head coach of the BC Lions.

“Even my mom is super into football,” said Campbell. “My parents got married while they were still in college at Washington State, and they actually moved their wedding up from June to December because my dad was going to play in the Hula Bowl, and she wanted to be able to go to Hawaii with him.

“She should have known what her life was going to be like when she honeymooned with the football team.”

Her father played receiver for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and was a member of the organization’s first Grey Cup championship in 1966. He later became head coach in Edmonton, leading the Green and Gold to the Grey Cup in each of his six seasons in that role and winning five consecutive championships from 1978-82.

After one season as head coach of the USFL’s Los Angeles Express, he was hired by the NFL’s Houston Oilers and lured former Edmonton quarterback and future Hall-of-Famer Warren Moon down south. He then returned north of the border to Edmonton serving as the Green and Gold’s general manager from 1986-97, and then became the club’s President and CEO until his retirement in 2006.

RELATED
» 2024 Season Tickets: Available Now
» WATCH: Dickenson – 13.02.24
» WATCH: 1-on-1 with Molly Campbell
» WATCH: 2024 Outriders Auditions

From a young age, Molly Campbell was involved in the sport in every way imaginable.

“Just for fun, even as a 10-year-old, I’d help out with the Eskimos,” she said. “Whether it was handing out streamers to the first row when the Eskimos scored a touchdown or cooking hotdogs on fan day. I even dressed up as the mascot for some community events and was just around it for something to do.

“As I got older in high school, I’d go to the stadium a couple times a week and help with reception, help file or help around the office. In college, I’d come back home in the summer and that’s when I started charting for the coaches during training camp and games for the coaches. I’d chart all the offensive plays and Don Matthews was the coach who asked me to do that. I started getting more into actual football, and eventually I started filming the endzone camera for practices.

“All of this was not paid. I remember the accountant one day said, ‘We really should be paying Molly, she’s here every day working,’ and my dad said, ‘Nope, we’re not going to do that,’ and I understood he was very supportive, he just didn’t like the optics of having his kids come and work for him.”

Molly and her brother Rick Campbell.

Fast forward years later, both siblings have worked extensively in the CFL and have even won a Grey Cup championship against each other.

Rick initially had the edge over his little sister, winning a ring in 2016 with the Ottawa Redblacks at the expense of the Stampeders. Molly evened the score two years later in the city they were raised as Calgary defeated Ottawa at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium.

When Rick joined the Leos in 2020, it was a thornier situation for Molly compared to the time her brother coached in the East Division.

“It is a unique situation in that I want him to do well and keep his job,” she laughed. “I root for him to do well enough that he’s doing a good job, but of course I always root for the Stamps when we play them.

“It was easier when he was in Ottawa coaching in a different division. Now that we’re in the same division, it’s a little tougher. He’s my brother so I always root for him to do well but I root for the Stamps to do a little bit better.”

Molly and her brother Rick Campbell.

Although Campbell has been involved in the sport since she was a child, pursuing a career in football was not her original plan.

“It was just something I did,” she explained. “I never even thought it was something I’d work in some day.

“When I went to college at Washington State, I had no idea what I wanted to major in or do. The communications classes interested me, so I ended up majoring in communications in broadcast production.

“Because I grew up around it, I needed to try some other things before I realized that’s what I actually like to do.”

Now, she enters her 12th season with the Stamps and her 19th in the CFL. As Director of Football Administration, Campbell works closely with general manager and head coach Dave Dickenson in preparing contracts, provides essential support to the coaching staff and players, and is responsible for all other aspects of administration for the football operations department.

Before coming to Calgary, Campbell worked a three-hour drive north on Highway 2 with the Stamps’ provincial rivals.

“The assistant media relations job opened up (in Edmonton) and I knew my dad had one more year left before he retired,” she said. “Rick LeLacheur had already been hired for the succession plan (at president), so I applied with Rick and Dave Jamieson, who was the head (public relations) guy. I knew them both and I didn’t tell my Dad because I knew he’d probably be nervous about that.”

Following her time in Edmonton as the team’s PR assistant and digital media manager, Molly switched out her green and gold for red and white, joining her brother and the Stampeders in 2013.

“I’d been there for seven seasons, and I needed a change of pace,” she said. “There was a new regime coming in and I felt like it was a good time to go somewhere else. My brother was in Calgary as the defensive coordinator, and he knew I was looking for a change.”

Campbell applied for the open digital media position and has been in Cowtown ever since.

After five years as manager of web and communications, Campbell switched roles and joined the football operations staff.

“Towards the end of the 2017 season, I was sitting at practice with Mike Petrie, who was the assistant GM at the time,” said Campbell. “We were chitchatting, and I mentioned I was getting a little burnt-out from the digital media job, so I casually mentioned to him the admin job seemed like something I’d be interested in.

“Then a year later, the job did open up and I was the first person he thought of since I happened to mention it to him that one time at practice.”

As part of her nature, Campbell has since taken on an additional role with the organization. Last season, she began providing SkyCoach assistance for the team on game days, using software in the booth to record every play and relay the video to iPads on the sideline for review by players and coaches.

“Because I used to chart,” began Campbell, “it always interested me to get back into something during games because I didn’t really have a role on game day with my current position. I mentioned to (director of video operations) Ross (Folan) and Dave (Dickenson), if there’s ever anything I can do during games, let me know.

“Then in ’22, Taylor (Altilio) who was doing SkyCoach at the time, missed a game in BC because of the birth of his daughter and I was on the trip and so they asked me if I wanted to try it. So I did it for that one game and I really liked it.

“I thought it was just a one-time thing, but the next season Taylor didn’t come back so they asked if I would be interested in doing it for the full season because it would free up Des (Catellier, the Stamps quality control coach at the time) from having to do that and he could concentrate more on the coaching part.

“I said ‘Yes’ and did it all last season.”

“My favourite part about my job is the atmosphere,” said Campbell.

“I worked in jobs before where you maybe don’t like your boss that much, or you don’t like your job that much, and I really like my job and I like coming into work every day.

“This is a good group of people that I work with, everyone from Huff (John Hufnagel) to Dave, and the coaches. I look forward to coming in every day. I was gone over Christmas and worked remotely for a few weeks, and when I came back into the office, I was really excited to come back, and I know a lot of people don’t feel that way about their jobs. I’m lucky.”

Over the course of her career, Campbell has noticed an increase in gender inclusiveness throughout the CFL.

“From my experiences,” she began, “the business side has always had a lot of women. At least with the Eskimos, there were a lot of women in departments on the business side.

“There were always women in marketing, sponsorships, and community relations. I haven’t noticed that much of a difference over the years on that side, but on the football side there has definitely been an increase.

“When I was charting in 1999, I was literally the only female on the sideline. I didn’t think much about it at the time, I was so used to it that it didn’t bother me.

“Now you look and there’s trainers, coaches, refs and equipment staff. On the football side of it, there’s definitely more females and it’s good to see.”

Campbell encourages other women who are wishing to pursue a career in sports to follow their passions.

“From my experience,” she said, “guys don’t really care if you’re male or female, it’s more if you do a good job and can help the team win games and be a positive contributor. As long as you work hard and prove that you’re capable, and you know what you’re doing, you will be welcomed.

“I love my job, and it doesn’t feel like a job because I like it so much. It’s a matter of finding something that you’re passionate about and being willing to work hard, to start at the bottom and work your way up. As long as you’re willing to do all of that, then you should definitely pursue it because there are more opportunities now than there ever have been before.”