Byron Archambault (born October 18, 1990) is a former professional

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

and is the

special teams coordinator In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

linebackers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

, and director of player personnel for 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 folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

(CFL).

University career

After initially committing to play for the

Western Mustangs The Western Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The school's athletic program supports 46 varsity teams. Their mascot is a Mustang named J.W. and the school colours are purple and whit ...

, a break-in at his family home convinced him to play

CIS football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic conf ...

in his hometown with the

Montreal Carabins The Montréal Carabins are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent the Université de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Teams play at the CEPSUM Stadium and at l'aréna du CEPSUM, located at the Université de Montréal campus. ...

for head coach

Danny Maciocia Danny Maciocia (born May 26, 1967) is the head coach and general manager of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was previously head coach of the Université de Montréal Carabins football team. He is also the former ...

. He played for the Carabins from 2011 to

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

where he was named a CIS First Team All-Canadian and the RSEQ Defensive Player of the Year in 2014. In the

50th Vanier Cup The 2014 Vanier Cup, the 50th edition of the Canadian university football championship, took place on Saturday, November 29, 2014 at Molson Stadium in Montreal, Quebec. It featured the OUA champion McMaster Marauders and the RSEQ champion Montr ...

game, played in Montreal in 2014, Archambault recorded three solo tackles, one assisted tackle, and one fumble recovery in the Carabins' 20–19 victory over the

McMaster Marauders The McMaster Marauders are the athletic teams that represent McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Athletics at McMaster is currently managed by the university's student affairs, under their athletics & recreation department. The univ ...

, which was the first

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

in program history.

Professional career

Archambault was drafted in the second round, 17th overall, in the

2015 CFL Draft The 2015 CFL Draft took place on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, at 8:00 PM ET on TSN2 and RDS2. 62 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. For the fi ...

by the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

and signed with the team on May 26, 2015. He made the team following training camp and made his professional debut on June 26, 2015, against the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third ...

. He played in the team's first nine games until he tore his ACL while running downfield on a kickoff in a game against the

on August 27, 2015. He returned to his hometown,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, for rehabilitation and returned to play almost exactly one year later on August 28, 2016, where he had one special teams tackle against the Stampeders. However, he became injured again and was transferred to the six-game injured list on September 1, 2016, where he finished the 2016 season. He retired from the CFL in the following off-season and formally submitted his retirement documentation on April 10, 2017.

Coaching and football operations career

Montreal Carabins

After informing the Tiger-Cats that he would not return to playing, Archambault joined the

as the team's

and

for the 2017 season. In his third season as a coach with the team, the Carabins won the

Dunsmore Cup The Dunsmore Cup (french: Coupe Dunsmore) is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the university-level football competition conducted by Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), the governing body for all student spor ...

and played in the

55th Vanier Cup The 2019 Vanier Cup, the 55th edition of the Canadian university football championship, was played on November 23, 2019 at Telus Stadium in Quebec City, Quebec.

, but lost the championship to the

Calgary Dinos The Calgary Dinos are the athletic teams that represent the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. They were known as the "Dinosaurs" but usually referred to as the "Dinos" until 1999, when the name was officially shortened. Some of its venue ...

Montreal Alouettes

After the Carabins former head coach,

, was hired by the

to become the team's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all ...

, Archambault was hired as the Alouettes' director of national scouting on February 13, 2020. The

2020 CFL season The 2020 CFL season would have been the 67th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it would have been the 63rd season of the Canadian Football League. It was originally scheduled to begin on June 11; on April 7, the start of the s ...

was cancelled and he became the team's director of player personnel in 2021. Midway through the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, Archambault joined the team's coaching staff as a defensive assistant coach on September 28, 2021, following the dismissal of

defensive line coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordinators. Common ...

Todd Howard Todd Andrew Howard (born 1970) is an American video game designer, director, and producer. He serves as director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, where he has led the development of the '' Fallout'' and '' The Elder Scrolls ...

. For the 2022 season, he was promoted to

. Just one week prior to the opening of 2022 training camp, he received another job title as he was named the team's

following the departure of

Jeff Reinebold Jeff Reinebold (born November 19, 1957) is an American gridiron football coach who is the director of player development at the University of Hawaiʻi. Prior to Hawaiʻi, He was appointed the special teams coordinator for the Montreal Alouettes ...

. In early December 2022 it was reported that Archambault was one of five finalists for the vacant Alouettes head coaching job.

References

External links

Montreal Alouettes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Archambault, Byron 1990 births Living people Canadian football linebackers Montreal Alouettes coaches Montreal Alouettes players Montreal Carabins football players Players of Canadian football from Quebec Canadian football people from Montreal