Mark Washington (born April 16, 1973) is the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

for 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 ...

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 ci ...

(CFL). He is also a retired professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

in the CFL, having played 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 ...

and the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

over 11 seasons. After his retirement, he joined the Lions as the defensive backs coach, and was promoted to

for the

2014 BC Lions season The 2014 BC Lions season was the 57th season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 61st overall. The Lions qualified for the playoffs for the 18th straight year. However, the team lost the East Semi-Final to the Montreal Alouettes ...

College career

Washington attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

. As a junior at Rutgers, he was an All-Big East performer, and as a senior, he was the team captain.

Professional career

Washington began his pro career with the

Barcelona Dragons Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Barcelona Dragons: * Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2003; * Barcelona Dragons (ELF) The Barcelona Dragons are an American football team based in ...

NFL Europa NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

, where he won a

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

in 1997. He played six seasons for the

, from 1997 to 2002, recording nine interceptions (and returning two for touchdowns) and winning a

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) 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 be ...

in 2002. He moved in 2003, as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, to the

, where in five seasons he intercepted eight passes (one for a TD), was named an all-star in 2003, and won the

in 2006. He retired on January 31, 2008.

Coaching and broadcasting

After his playing career, he became the

defensive backs coach In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

of the BC Lions, and also began a career in television broadcasting, co-hosting a local talk-show. On December 12, 2013 it was announced that he would become the new defensive coordinator for the BC Lions. Mark Washington was named

and

for the

on January 16, 2019. On November 29, 2022, it was reported by

TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...

insider

Farhan Lalji Farhan Lalji is a Vancouver-based sports reporter and the Vancouver Bureau Reporter for TSN's SportsCentre. He previously anchored ''SportsDesk'' between 1997 and 2000. Career Lalji joined TSN in 1997 as an anchor of TSN's flagship sports ...

that Washington was one of three finalists for the vacant

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

head coaching job.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Mark 1973 births Living people American players of Canadian football Canadian football defensive backs Canadian television hosts BC Lions coaches BC Lions players Hamilton Tiger-Cats coaches Montreal Alouettes players Barcelona Dragons players New York CityHawks players Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players People from Temple Hills, Maryland