The 2019 Hamilton Tiger-Cats season was the 62nd season for the team in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

and their 70th overall. It was the 150th year overall in the combined history of the Tiger-Cats and its predecessors the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...

and

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

; the team held

sesquicentennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded. Most countries celebrate national anniversaries, typically called national days. These could be the date of independence of the nation or the adoption o ...

celebrations throughout the season. The Tiger-Cats improved upon their 8–10 record from 2018 and finished the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

regular season with a franchise best 15–3 record. They finished in first place for the first time since

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and attempted unsuccessfully to win their ninth

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

championship. This is the first season under co-general managers Drew Allemang and Shawn Burke, and the first full season under

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Orlondo Steinauer. It was announced on December 3, 2018 that Steinauer would take the reins as the Tiger-Cats' head coach, replacing

June Jones June Sheldon Jones III (born February 19, 1953) is an American football coach and former player who was most recently the offensive coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons. Jones was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa ...

in that capacity. The plan was for Jones to remain with the team as an associate head coach and offensive coordinator, but he resigned with the club and joined the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL as head coach. On October 19, 2019, the Tiger-Cats defeated the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

and recorded a franchise-record 13th win in a season. The team finished the season with 15 wins and with a

perfect Perfect commonly refers to: * Perfection; completeness, and excellence * Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages Perfect may also refer to: Film and television * ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama * ''Perfect'' (20 ...

home record for the first time since the CFL went to an 18-game schedule, winning all nine home games. Despite their success during the regular season, they lost to the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

, a team that had a dominant performance during the

107th Grey Cup The 107th Grey Cup decided the champion of the 2019 season in the Canadian Football League (CFL). The match was played on November 24, 2019, between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. Win ...

game. With the Blue Bombers ending a 29-year Grey Cup drought, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats now hold the longest active Grey Cup drought dating back to the 1999 season, having won the

87th Grey Cup The 87th Grey Cup (Canadian Football League championship) was held in 1999 in Vancouver. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats won the game 32–21 over the Calgary Stampeders in a rematch of the previous year's 86th Grey Cup. Game summary Hamilton Tiger-Cats ...

that season.

Offseason

Foreign drafts

For the first time in its history, the CFL held drafts for foreign players from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Like all other CFL teams, the Tiger-Cats held three non-tradeable selections in the

2019 CFL–LFA Draft The 2019 CFL–LFA draft took place on January 14, 2019. Twenty-seven players were chosen from an invited pool of 51 Mexican players: 34 from the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA) (a professional American football league) and 17 seniors ...

, which took place on January 14, 2019. The

2019 European CFL Draft The 2019 CFL European draft took place on April 11, 2019. Nine players were chosen from a pool of 18 European players who attended the 2019 CFL Combine. Background In October 2018, Canadian Football League (CFL) commissioner Randy Ambrosie outlin ...

took place on April 11, 2019 where all teams held one non-tradeable pick.

CFL draft

The 2019 CFL Draft took place on May 2, 2019. The Tiger-Cats held eight selections in the eight-round draft, including three picks within the first 11 overall selections after trading

Ryan Bomben Ryan Bomben (born May 16, 1987) is a Canadian former professional football offensive guard who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Montreal Alouettes, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and Toronto Argonauts. He was a four-time East Division A ...

and Jamal Robinson to the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

.Ticats acquire first overall pick in major trade with Als
/ref>

Preseason

Schedule

2019 Schedule
/ref>CFL on TSN broadcast schedule
/ref>

Regular season

Season standings

Season schedule

To accommodate for the viewership of the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

' 9pm EDT NBA Finals Game 6 start time on June 13, the CFL moved up the start time of the league opener that same day from 7:30pm to 7:00pm. CFL schedule through October 2019
/ref>

Post-season

Schedule

Team

Roster

Coaching staff

References

{{Hamilton Tiger-Cats seasons Hamilton Tiger-Cats seasons 2019 Canadian Football League season by team 2019 in sports in Ontario 2010s in Hamilton, Ontario