Hilltops’ Davidsen touted with Roughriders Recognition Award

Coach pumped for upcoming CJFL and high school seasons

Donnie Davidsen accesses play at the Hilltops Alumni Game.

Winning games, capturing championships and making a positive impact on young lives are just a few of the uplifting experiences Donnie Davidsen has gotten from coaching football.

The 55-year-old is currently the offensive line coach for the defending CJFL champion Saskatoon Hilltops and the head coach of the Bishop James Mahoney Saints Football Team. Davidsen has been with the Hilltops for 22 years and the Saints for nine years.

He has been coaching in Saskatoon since 1995, when he along with his wife, Rhonda, moved to the city to continue at the time their young careers as teachers. Before moving to Saskatoon, Donnie Davidsen also coached with the high school program in the town of Assiniboia and Vanier Collegiate in Moose Jaw.

Since arriving in Saskatoon, Davidsen previously coached the football teams at St. Joseph High School, E.D. Feehan Catholic High School and Bethlehem Catholic High School before moving over to work at Bishop James Mahoney. Davidsen has experienced 11 CJFL championship wins with the Hilltops and guided the Saints to four provincial titles.

On July 19, Davidson was a recipient of the Roughriders Recognition Award along with David Rogers, who is the long time head coach of the Melfort and Unit Comprehensive Collegiate Comets Football Team that plays the nine-a-side game. 

From left, Donnie Davidsen, Trey Reider, Boston Davidsen and Shane Reider.

The CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders through the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation along with Football Saskatchewan present Roughriders Recognition Awards for the lifetime contributions individuals make to promoting and developing football at the amateur level.

Davidsen and Rogers were honoured at that day’s Roughriders 19-9 home win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

“I love the ’Riders,” said Davidsen. “They took care of me.

“That Foundation does great work. They showed me nothing but class. It was awesome to be there.

“I was super happy to receive that recognition. They treated me like a king, so it was awesome.”

While Davidsen has compiled a vast amount of memories coaching the game, his best memories are coaching championship teams that his son, Boston, and daughter, Peyton played on. The 2016 and 2018 Saints provincial championship teams Donnie coached featured Boston as a running back.

Donnie Davidsen works the Saints sidelines in Sept. 2022.

The two were with the Hilltops together for their CJFL championship wins in 2019 and 2023. Boston exhausted his CJFL eligibility after last year’s CJFL title victory finishing his time with the Hilltops posting two straight 1,000-yard rushing campaigns in the regular season.

Donnie coached a flag football team that Peyton was the quarterback for to a city championship. They were together for two flag seasons and made it to the city final in both campaigns.

Also on the family front, Davidsen’s brother-in-law is Hilltops offensive coordinator Shane Reider, and Davidsen is the uncle to Hilltops star quarterback Trey Reider, who is Shane’s son. The Reiders were a big part of the Hilltops CJFL championship win a year ago.

Looking back on his coaching career, Davidsen said he has coached so long that most of the players he once guided have been established in their adult lives now for some time.

“That’s so crazy thinking about like high school and even this team,” said Davidsen. “You coached guys that now have families.

Donnie Davidsen celebrates a provincial title with the Saints in 2022.

“How crazy is that? It’s awesome.”

Legendary Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant has a great appreciation for Davidsen’s run as a football coach. Sargeant became a Hilltops assistant coach in 1991 and took over as the team’s head coach in early December of 1997.

At the time Sargeant became the head coach of the Hilltops, he was head coach of the Evan Hardy Collegiate Souls Football Team. Sargeant guided the Souls to provincial title wins in 1997 and 2000 and went up against teams coached by Davidsen.

When Davidsen was given the Roughriders Recognition Award, Sargeant said everyone in the Hilltops organization was proud of the club’s long time offensive line coach.

Donnie Davidsen hugs a Saints player after a provincials win in 2022.

“It was outstanding for him to be recognized by his peers and by Football Saskatchewan,” said Sargeant. “He’s been a great coach for the Hilltops for a long, long time and such a loyal companion and friend.

“When we heard the news, you couldn’t have been more excited for coach Davidsen.”

Sargeant said Davidsen has done an outstanding job in his work with the Hilltops offensive line and guiding the Saints as a head coach for a very lengthy period of time.

“His commitment to his school in Bishop James Mahoney and to this program is second to none,” said Sargeant. “He coaches basketball in the off-season.

“We just love his background. He was a great competitor as an athlete himself and that has carried over to him as a coach. He’s a very competitive coach and has high, high expectations and demands on his players.

Donnie Davidsen, middle, checks out action on the field in 2023.

“We’ve enjoyed a lot of his hard work and labour that has really transferred into creating a lot of great players for the Hilltops.”

Davidsen’s passion for coaching football in the current day is still as strong as ever.

“It’s the ultimate team sport, and it’s different,” said Davidsen. “When I coach high school, it’s the development of young players.

“It’s the ability to see growth and to teach life lessons. That to me is the most important thing at that level. I come here and none of that changes, but it’s at a much more elite level.

“It’s the brotherhood of coaches that I coach with here as well. I probably wouldn’t do it, if I wasn’t happy doing it, but I love it. I guess that’s what keeps me going.”

With that said, Davidsen has enjoyed getting back at it as the Hilltops opened training camp on July 28. Last Thursday, the Hilltops hosted their annual Alumni Game and fell to the Hilltops Alumni Team 28-8.

Donnie Davidsen, right, on the Hilltops sidelines during a timeout.

The Hilltops open their regular season this coming Sunday taking on the Edmonton Huskies at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. Soon, Davidsen will be overseeing the opening of training camp for the Saints.

“I think I have a good team at high school,” said Davidsen. “I think we’re going to have a great team here.

“It’s just a matter of, you know, putting the team together, putting the time in, getting the kids to commit and sometimes having the ball bounce your way and be a little lucky too.”

As for the Alumni Game, Sargeant said that contest always provides a good early learning experience for his current team.

“I felt our starters performed better than what they did last year and saw some good things,” said Sargeant. “The good thing is we got the drone going on.

Donnie Davidsen takes part in the Hilltops Alumni Game’s handshake line.

“There’s just lots to learn. There are some that thing this is the most important game we play all year, because it sort of sets the tone for how our players need to play and conduct themselves and the physical nature of which the game is all about. They learn from the alumni, and as I said, it has been a great vehicle for us moving forward each year.”

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