The 2026 Canadian Football League (CFL) season kicks off this Thursday, and the Bisons are well represented. Overall, ten former members of the Herd are involved in the CFL in some capacity, whether that be on an active or practice roster, the coaching staff, or as a member of the athletic therapy and strength and conditioning team.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have the largest contingent of Bisons. On the active roster are receivers Nic Demski and Gavin Cobb, while defensive tackle Collin Kornelson is on the practice roster. Meanwhile, Liam Grace is a strength and conditioning assistant, and Anna McConnell is an assistant in strength and conditioning and athletic therapy. 

An 11-year CFL veteran and two-time Grey Cup champion, Demski enters his seventh season with Winnipeg in 2026. The former first round draft pick of Saskatchewan has been named a CFL All-Star each of the last five seasons, recording 6,285 career receiving yards and 42 touchdowns in 152 games played.

With the Bisons, Demski was a four-time U SPORTS All-Canadian as a receiver from 2011-14. His 3,910 all-purpose yards are the most in school history, while his 15 career regular season receiving touchdowns rank third in school history, and his 21 career regular season touchdowns rank sixth all-time. 



A fourth-round pick in the 2022 CFL Draft by Edmonton, Cobb enters his second season with Winnipeg in 2026. The Victoria, BC native has played in 33 career contests, recording 998 all-purpose yards with two touchdowns. He was a Canada West All-Star as a returner in his lone season with Manitoba in 2021, where he led the conference with 250 punt return yards, which included a 91-yard touchdown in Week 2 at Alberta. Manitoba advanced to the Hardy Cup that season. 



Kornelson was selected by the Bombers in the 2023 CFL Draft and returns to the club for the 2026 campaign after making his regular season debut on June 12, 2025 against BC. The St. Paul's grad played for Manitoba between 2018-2024, recording 101 career tackles. In his final season, he was named a Second Team All-Canadian, helping the Herd lead Canada West with 34 takeaways. 



Grace was a receiver for the Bisons from 2016-20, and a member of the coaching staff from 2021-24. In March of 2024, the Murdoch grad accepted a position as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Bombers, and has been on staff ever since. 



McConnell is a former national champion shotputter on the Bisons track and field team who holds the school record for longest throw, at 14.96m in 2023. She joined the BC Lions as an athletic therapist for the 2024 season, and enters her second season with Winnipeg in 2026. 



Meanwhile, two Bisons start the 2026 CFL season on the Calgary Stampeders roster. On the active roster is offensive lineman Zack Williams, while fellow o-lineman Matt Stokman is on the practice roster. 

A third round pick in the 2019 CFL Draft by Calgary, Williams has been with the club ever since. He made his regular season debut in week 17 of the 2019 campaign against Montreal, and has been a fixture in the starting lineup ever since 2021. Overall, Williams has started 81 games for the Stampeders, suiting up at left and right guard. At the U SPORTS level, Williams was a four-year starter for the Herd, suiting up in all 32 conference regular season games between 2015-18. 



A 2025 CFL Draft pick of the Stampeders, Stokman begins his first season as a pro in '26, after participating in the 'Stamps training camp a year ago. A five-year starter for the Herd, Stokman helped Manitoba to a Canada West-leading 1,486 rushing yards in 2025. The Vincent Massey product started at left and right tackle as a redshirt freshman in 2021, and didn't miss a start over the next four years at the right guard position. In 2024, he was an integral piece of a Bisons offensive line that helped pave the way for a school record 2,016 rushing yards on the ground. 



The Ottawa REDBLACKS also have a Bisons connection in former offensive lineman Giordano Vaccaro, who played for Manitoba from 2022-25. The Winnipeg native made history in 2026 by becoming the first-ever Bison to be taken No. 1 overall in the CFL Draft.

Vaccaro made an instant impact with the Herd in 2022, becoming the first Bison in head coach Brian Dobie's 29-year tenure to start at left tackle as an 18-year-old true freshman, helping the Herd rush for 143.8 yards per game (second in Canada West).

Over the following two campaigns, the St. Paul's grad staked his claim as one of the best offensive linemen in the nation. He started every game at guard in 2023 and 2024, where he was a unanimous all-star selection, becoming the first Bison offensive lineman to earn back-to-back Canada West All-Star and First Team All-Canadian nods since Chris Bochen in 2001 and 2002.



Two CFL coaches also have a connection to the Bisons, in former quarterback Des Catellier, and former defensive back Jordan Linnen. 

Catellier enters his second CFL season as a coach with Edmonton, and fourth overall after spending the prior two with Calgary. He began his pro-coaching career as a Quality Control Coach in 2023 before his elevation to Offensive and Special Teams Assistant Coach in 2024. He's been a Special Teams assistant each of the last two seasons.

At Manitoba, Catellier was a captain for the Bisons, throwing for a regular season school record 7,616 yards between 2016-22. He also threw 51 touchdowns overall, and was the inaugural Spirit of the Bison award winner in 2022, after coming back from a season-ending knee injury the year before. 



Linnen begins his fourth season as a coach with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2026. Prior to that he spent two seasons with the Edmonton Elks. He was part of the the Roughriders' 2025 Grey Cup Championship team, and assumed the role of Defensive backs coach in January of 2026. A two-year member of the Bisons, Linnen earned a Hardy Cup title in 2014, making a huge impact as a starting halfback. He was also a Canada West All-Star that year.