U of Saskatchewan might surprise a few in U Sports
ranks
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| Huskies head coach Scott Flory, right, meets fans as part of a charity event. |
There were huge bumps in the road that made the process of
creating a new coaching staff a painful one. The departure of legendary Huskies
head coach Brian Towriss late last December wasn’t handled in the smoothest
fashion to say the least. A joint statement had to be posted on the Huskie
Athletics website from U of S president Peter Stoicheff and Towriss that saw
Stoicheff apologize for how the news of Towriss’s resignation was handled.
Towriss will be officially inducted into the Canadian
Football Hall of Fame on Sept. 14 in Hamilton, Ont.
Former CFL and Huskies star player Scott Flory, who had been
the Huskies offensive coordinator, was named the team’s new head coach on March
13. Since that time, Flory, who will turn 41 on July 15, has taken the ball and
run with it putting his stamp on the team. Flory has put in the ground work to
create optimism.
He revamped the coaching staff, and the staff is likely
deeper overall than it was during Towriss’s final season. Including Flory, only
six people from the 16 person coaching staff last season remain to be part of
the 14 person staff this season. The five other holdovers include Dan Houle,
Lane Bryska, Cody Halseth, Braden Suchan and Paul Woldu.
Flory brought in long-time veteran CFL quarterback Marcus
Crandell as the new offensive coordinator. Crandell was a member of the Calgary
Stampeders Grey Cup winning team in 2001 and the Saskatchewan Roughriders Grey
Cup championship team in 2007. Those that knew Crandell during his years in
Regina speak highly of him, and you can expect him to give the offence great
guidance.
Warren Muzika joined the Huskies as the team’s new defensive
coordinator. Muzika played for first the Canadian Junior Football League’s
Saskatoon Hilltops and then the Huskies establishing a reputation of being a “Terminator”
type linebacker in the 1990s.
The graduate of Saskatoon’s Walter Murray High School helped
the Hilltops win the Canadian Bowl in 1991 and the Huskies win Vanier Cups in
1996 and 1998. He played five seasons in the CFL split between the Hamilton
Tiger-Cats and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1999 to 2003 and was on Hamilton’s
Grey Cup winner in 1999.
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| Kyle Siemens (#19) fires a pass downfield for the Huskies. |
The Huskies saw another old face return to the fold when
Jerry Friesen rejoined the team as the special teams coordinator. Friesen
played five seasons with the Huskies in the 1970s and was an assistant coach for
10 years starting in 1986. He spent time coaching the U of Calgary Dinos, U of
Alberta Golden Bears and University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in his
lengthy career before rejoining the Huskies.
Friesen, who was the head coach of the Golden Bears during
his stop at U of A, brings tonnes of valuable experience to the Huskies.
The current Huskies staff is rounded out by Ignite
Conditioning co-owner Joel Lipinski, who is the strength and conditioning
coordinator and a defensive assistant. Before making CFL stops as a player with
the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Edmonton Eskimos, Lipinski made his mark in
the U Sports ranks as an all-Canadian defensive back first with the U of Regina
Rams and then with the Saint Mary’s University Huskies in the 2000s.
Since becoming head coach, Flory has been visible on many
fronts in the community. He is pretty active in reaching out to team supporters
either in person or through electronic correspondence. His messaging to his players has been great as
he tells them everything matters on and off the field including demeanor,
words, actions, decisions and academics.
Having talked to a couple of the current Huskies football coaches
in public settings, it sounds like the Huskies new coaching staff has developed
chemistry quite quickly and the atmosphere with the staff is very upbeat. It is
conceivable the Huskies could have a strong year in 2017.
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| The Huskies defence gets set for action. |
The Huskies are slated to return a number of key players
including quarterback Kyle Siemens and defensive lineman Matt Kozun. The Dogs
might not experience that many growing pains. The Huskies first game is a
pre-season contest on Aug. 25, when they travel to Hamilton, Ont., to face the McMaster
University Marauders.
With that said, the competition in the Canada West
Conference is always tough, so success is never guaranteed. Still, it wouldn’t
be a surprise if the Huskies went out and had a memorable campaign.
Two youngsters, one great vet take Valkyries
awards
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| Alex Eyolfson is the Valkyries offensive MVP. |
The Valkyries offensive and defensive MVP awards went to two
of the Valkyries young sophomore players. Quarterback Alex Eyolfson was named
the Valkyries offensive MVP.
The 19-year-old assumed the role as the full-time starter in
her second campaign with the team. The graduate of Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High
School has grown significantly over the past two seasons with the team and has
a good command of the team’s offence.
Linebacker Emmarae Dale was named the team’s defensive MVP.
Since joining the Valkyries last year, Dale, who is a graduate of Saskatoon’s St.
Joseph High School, immediately became a force on the defensive side of the
ball. Also a member of the U of Saskatchewan Huskies track and field team, Dale
reads and reacts quickly to plays and moves swiftly from sideline to sideline.
The Valkyries presented their Green and White award to
sixth-year standout defensive lineman Melanie Harris for her overall dedication to the team
and the women’s game. Harris lives in Outlook, Sask., and drives into Saskatoon
for all the team’s practices and games. Each of those round trips takes two
hours out of Harris’s day.
Harris has become a realizable fixture on the defensive line
helping the Valkyries win Western Women’s Canadian Football League titles in
2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016. She retired from playing with the Valkyries at the
conclusion of the 2017 campaign.
This past season, the Valkyries posted a 5-2 overall record,
and both of their losses came to the Regina Riot, who won the WWCFL title. The
Valkyries fell 34-24 in the WWCFL Prairie Conference championship game in
Regina to the Riot on June 4, and closed the season with a 44-20 victory in a
WWCFL consolation final over the Edmonton Storm on June 10 in Saskatoon.
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comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
