TORONTO – The Toronto Argonauts have fired general manager Jim Barker after the team finished at the bottom of the CFL standings last season.
The Argos were tied with Saskatchewan for last in the league at 5-13.
Barker spent six seasons as GM, winning a Grey Cup in 2012.
The move comes after Argos president Michael Copeland conducted a review of the club’s football operations.
Copeland will lead the search for Barker’s successor.
The team says Scott Milanovich, who was hired by Barker, will remain as the Argos head coach.
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The Argos have also promoted Spencer Zimmerman to assistant GM. He served last season as Toronto’s director of American scouting and pro development.
Barker was in his second stint with the Argos.
The 60-year-old California native assumed his first CFL head-coaching position with Toronto in 1999 before returning to the U.S. in 2001 to be an offensive co-ordinator with the XFL-champion Los Angeles Xtreme.
Barker rejoined the Argos as head coach in 2010, leading the franchise to the playoffs for the first time since 2007 and earning CFL coach of the year honours. He assumed GM duties on Dec. 10, 2010, when Adam Rita’s contract wasn’t renewed and became the full-time GM prior to the 2012 season.
Barker acquired veteran quarterback Ricky Ray from the Edmonton Eskimos in a blockbuster deal shortly after hiring Milanovich. The move was huge as Ray was instrumental in Toronto’s 2012 Grey Cup run, guiding the Argos to 35-22 win over Calgary in the 100th CFL Grey Cup game played before over 50,000 fans at Rogers Centre.
While Barker certainly had an eye for young talent at quarterback – bringing in talented rookies Zach Collaros and Trevor Harris in 2012 – he wasn’t nearly as successful in keeping them. He released Collaros after the 2013 season, allowing the former Cincinnati star to sign with the rival Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
And Harris left Toronto as a free agent last season to sign with eventual Grey Cup-champion Ottawa.
While Ray has shown a deft passing touch throughout his Toronto tenure, the veteran quarterback has battled injuries the past few years. He missed most of the 2015 campaign recovering from shoulder surgery and was limited to just nine games last year.
That forced Barker to overpay to acquire veteran quarterback Drew Willy from Winnipeg on Sept. 11, sending starting defensive back T.J. Heath, a 2017 first-round pick and 2018 third-round selection. Even with Willy in the fold, the Argos failed to make the playoffs.
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