Montreal, July 6, 2022 – The Montreal Alouettes announced on Wednesday that General Manager Danny Maciocia will replace Khari Jones as head coach until the end of this season. Noel Thorpe has been hired as Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Backs Coach in replacement of Barron Miles.
“This kind of decision is always difficult to make, but we felt that we needed to make it early in the season while there is still time”, said Maciocia. We want to thank Khari Jones and Barron Miles for their work, and wish them the best in the future”.
Maciocia returned to the Alouettes in January 2020, when he was appointed General Manager.
He began his professional coaching career in 1996 with the Alouettes as a Quality Control Coach. He rapidly climbed the ladder and was the team’s Offensive Coordinator by 2001, before taking on the same responsibilities with Edmonton from 2001 to 2004, helping the team engrave its name on the Grey Cup in 2003.
Edmonton then appointed him as the Head Coach, in 2005. On top of becoming the first Quebec-born head coach in CFL history, he hoisted the Grey Cup in his first season in that role, following a dramatic overtime win against the Alouettes. He was then handed the General Manager duties in 2007.
In four seasons as a CFL Head Coach, Maciocia earned a Grey Cup championship and an East Final berth.
In nine seasons with the Université de Montréal Carabins (U SPORTS), from 2010 to 2020, Maciocia had a 57-16-0 record, including a Vanier Cup championship and three Dunsmore Cups.
Thorpe returns with the Alouettes for the third time. He began his CFL coaching career with Montreal in 2002 by winning a Grey Cup, after six years in college with UBC and Simon Fraser University. In 1997 he raised the Vanier Cup with the UBC Thunderbirds.
In the nest, Thorpe led the special teams and the defensive backs from 2002 to 2007. From 2013 to 2017, he was the team’s Defensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach. Thorpe also served as Defensive backs Coach, Special Teams Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach with Edmonton from 2008 to 2010. He also worked for two years as a Defensive Coordinator with the Ottawa REDBLACKS. He joined Maciocia, with whom he worked in Edmonton in 2010, with the Université de Montréal Carabins in 2011 and 2012, when he was the Special Teams Coordinator. In 2022 he won the championship in the USFL with the Birmingham Stallions.
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