1998–present Montreal Alouettes

the fortunes alouettes started change during 1998 season, when acquired young free agent quarterback hamilton tiger-cats, anthony calvillo, , drafted ben cahoon. tracy ham , mike pringle, led team second-place finish, , after great season, suffered last-second loss hamilton tiger-cats in east final.

the alouettes broke through in 1999, under new head coach charlie taaffe, winning first division title since 1979. however, lost closely fought east final tiger-cats, 27–26.

tracy ham retired after 1999 season, , anthony calvillo took on full-time starter, led team appeared in first grey cup final since 1979, losing bc, in contested game, came within missed 2 point convert of sending game overtime. after season charlie taaffe resigned become head coach of maryland terrapins.

the next season started under new coach rod rust @ 9–2, after calvillo separated shoulder, team started struggling , after losing remaining games, gm jim popp fired rust, led them playoffs, lost hamilton tiger-cats, ending disappointing season.

during off-season, alouettes signed don matthews, lead team in future. came way in 2002, horrible past season finishing best record in cfl , winning first grey cup since 1977, defeating 1 of oldest rivals, , matthews former team, edmonton eskimos, 25–16.

the alouettes had best record in cfl during 2004 season @ 14–4 , looked liked sure bet grey cup, in east final, anthony calvillo got hurt, , replaced backup ted white, , toronto argonauts rallied defeat alouettes, 26–18.

during off-season, time cfl rusher mike pringle signed one-day contract, retire member of montreal alouettes. team participated in first grey cup overtime game in 50 years. edmonton eskimos defeated alouettes, 38–35.

during 2006 season coach don matthews quit, near end of season, because of health reasons, , jim popp took on rest of season, leading team grey cup, lost 25–14 b.c lions

jim popp stayed on coach team during 2007 season, , team suffered first losing season since coming montreal in 1996, 8–10 record, aided anthony calvillo leaving team near end of season wife sick. team lost east semi-final, 22–20, winnipeg blue bombers backup quarterback marcus brady behind center.

with montreal hosting 2008 grey cup, alouettes wanted there, hired experienced nfl assistant in marc trestman, , helped lead them 11–7 record , berth in grey cup against visiting calgary stampeders led henry burris. stampeders defeated hometown montreal alouettes, 22–14, in front of on 66 000 fans.

the 2009 season record breaking season montreal alouettes, has set team record, , cfl best 15–3 during season, , defence amazing, allowed 324 points, second least in 18-game season. marc trestman won coach of year, after leading them 28–27 comeback grey cup victory, great play of anthony calvillo, beh cahoon, , jamel richardson. alouettes trailed saskatchewan roughriders, 27–11, 8 minutes play in game, when started comeback. came down foot of field goal kicker damon duval, after missing 43-yard field on last play, got second chance, when roughriders called having many players on field (the 13th man), ten-yard penalty, kicking 33 yard line, duval nailed through uprights, giving montreal improbable grey cup victory, after trailing entire game. game turned grey cup classic, great play of alouettes veterans, , broke streak of 4 straight losses in grey cups.

the 2010 season season montreal, went 12–6 , became first team since 1997 toronto argonauts repeat grey cup champions. played against saskatchewan roughriders second straight year, , won game, 21–18, repeating champs.

the 2011 season record breaking year anthony calvillo, broke numerous records, against argonauts. during first meeting calvillo broke cfl time touchdown passes record of 394 td passes on pass eric deslauriers, damon allen @ game @ molson stadium , congratulated him on breaking record. tied allen s record in regina week before touchdown pass ever caught tim maypray. during teams second meeting broke completions record completion brandon london. in teams third meeting, anthony calvillo became pro footballs all-time leading passer, on jamel richardson touchdown pass end third quarter. play stopped family joined him along mark cohan special on field presentation , video tribute. nfl greats warren moon , dan marino, espn s chris berman, , damon allen each sent video messages congratulating him on breaking record. calvillo presented special plaque, number 72382, new pro football all-time yardage mark. team lost overtime thriller in east semi-final @ olympic stadium 52–44 hamilton tiger-cats.

the 2012 season year alouettes, after 11–7 season lost east final toronto argonauts after brian bratton dropped game-tying touchdown pass calvillo minute left in game, giving toronto 27–20 win.

before 2013 season coach marc trestman left alouettes nfl, becoming head coach of chicago bears. jim popp went looking new coach, chose inexperienced coach in dan hawkins had no pro experience. after trying change playbook, , upsetting lot of players, anthony calvillo, , dissmal 2–3 record, jim popp fired hawkins, , coached team rest of year. calvillo not having great year, when suffered season-ending concussion in saskatchewan on hit ricky foley. jim popp went looking quarterback future, , looked found it, in heisman trophy winner troy smith. both tanner marsh , josh neiswander led alouettes comeback wins during year, when troy smith took over, looked more poised , comfortable others. team had 8–10 record, , still made playoffs 18th straight year. troy smith might have led them surprising playoff run, if referees had called pass interference on possible game winning pass duron carter in last minute of play, of east semi-final against tiger-cats.

anthony calvillo announced retirement on january 21, after 20-year career, including last 16 alouettes. on february 24, 2014, alouettes named former edmonton eskimos , calgary stampeders coach tom higgins 21st head coach in franchise history. higgins coached eskimos against alouettes in both 90th , 91st grey cup games.

the 2015 season difficult 1 alouettes, injuries starting qb johnathon crompton, alouettes went through 5 different quarterbacks including 2 rookies rakeem cato, , brandon bridge, before trading veteran kevin glenn. time quarterback shuffle had taken toll on team , finished year 6–12 record , missed playoffs first time since 1986, last year before folding on eve of 1987 season.

in 2007, alouettes launched new website features exclusive news , information in first cfl team. alouettes release player announcements , other news on montrealalouettes.com @ least hour before releasing media. has caused controversy news wires cp, remains favourite alouettes fans. site features exclusive player columns , features make top sports sites popular. beginning in late 2008, alouettes became first cfl team exploit social networking sites such facebook , twitter in marketing campaigns, remaining league leader in technology-based marketing.

since return cfl in 1996, alouettes have appeared in grey cup 8 times, between 2000 , 2010, 3 grey cup wins. won back-to-back grey cup championships in 2009 , 2010, both against saskatchewan roughriders, including comeback classic in 2009. alouettes have been grey cup more other cfl team decade , considered sports experts successful cfl team since 2000 in terms of regular-season statistics , grey cup appearances.

2010 onward saw return of blue, red, , white triangle (flying alouette m ) logo , uniforms used 1974 1981 part of cfl s throwback , retro uniform program.

on may 22, 2015, michael sam signed two-year contract alouettes. signing made him first openly gay player in cfl s history. michael sam left team after dressing 1 game.

on august 21, 2015, owner robert wettenhall announced has relieved tom higgins of head coaching responsibilities , general manager jim popp take on duties of head coach @ time.

on september 19, 2016, popp relieved of coaching duties, while remaining gm. jacques chapdelaine named interim head coach, becoming first quebec-born head coach in alouettes history. named permanent coach on december 13, 2016.

after 3-8 start 2017 season, chapdelaine fired on september 13, 2017.