Canada
Coaches
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Glen Constantin
Head Coach
Prior to becoming the head coach for the Canadian junior national team in 2006, Glen Constantin was the defensive coordinator for five years under Danny Maciocia.
Constantin was hired as defensive coordinator with the Laval Rouge et Or in 1996 and took over as head coach in December 2000. He has since led his team to Vanier Cup victories in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008 and three perfect 8-0 seasons. Since 2004, Laval has lost only one regular season game.
Constantin was awarded the Frank Tindall Trophy in 2005 as Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Coach of the Year and in eight years leading the Rouge & Or has accumulated a record of 51-13 in the regular season and 19-6 in playoff action. Laval has won 51 of its last 56 regular season games under his leadership.
Constantin was a physical education graduate from the University of Ottawa in 1990. While with the Gee-Gees, he played linebacker and lineman. His first CIS assistant coaching experience was with the Bishop’s University Gaiters, working with linebackers and the defensive line for four years. He helped build the best defensive unit in Canada for two consecutive seasons.
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Carl Brennan
Offensive Line
Carl Brennan was the offensive line coach for the Laval Rouge et Or from 1996 to 2003 before spending the next four seasons in the Canadian Football League with the Calgary Stampeders, the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Edmonton Eskimos. He returned to his OL duties with Universite Laval in 2008. Prior to 1996, Brennan coached in several football programs throughout the province of Quebec, including six seasons as an assistant for the offensive line and one season as head coach for the Alérions du Petit Séminaire of Quebec in 1995. He also spent 5 years coaching at the high school level with the Blizzard du Séminaire St-François.
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Blake Nill
Linebackers
Seen as one of the most successful coaches in the history of Canadian University Football, Blake Nill is a native of Hanna, Alberta. He has 22 years of football experience as a university and professional athlete, as well as other various coaching positions.
Nill played on the defensive line for the University of Calgary Dinos from 1980-1982 and then went pro in 1983 with Montreal. He started his coaching career in 1992 as the Defensive Coordinator for St. Francis Xavier and joined St. Mary’s in 1998. Nill has been the head coach of the University of Calgary for the last three seasons.
Before coming to the Dino’s, Nill coached the Saint Mary’s University Huskies to two Vanier Cup championships (2001, 2002) and two other appearances at the final game. There, he had a regular season record of 49 wins and 15 losses (.770) and a post-season record of 12 wins and five losses (.710).
Nill coached the Huskies to six Atlantic University Sport Championships (1999-2004), setting an AUS Conference record for consecutive championships. Under Nill, they also won the Uteck Bowl (2003), Churchill Bowl (2002) and Atlantic Bowl (1999, 2001). Including his time with Calgary, he has a record of 74-35 in regular season and playoffs. Nill won the Frank Tindall Award as CIS Coach of the Year in 1999 and was a Finalist three other years.
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Justin Ethier
Offensive Coordinator
As offensive coordinator for the University Laval, Justin Ethier has been at the helm of the Rouge et Or offensive since 2001 and has won four CIS Vanier Cups (2003, 2004, 2006, 2008). His reputation for detailed preparation and attention to detail helped the team to three perfect 8-0 seasons and five Dunsmore Cups in a row. He joined the Rouge et Or in 1997 and took over as the special teams coordinator from 1998 to 2000.
During his tenure coaching at the university level, he has seen many players reach the professional level. Under his guidance, quarterback Benoit Groulx won the Hec Crighton Trophy for the outstanding player in the CIS - University Laval’s first player to do so since the program’s inception in 1996. Before joining the Rouge et Or, Ethier coached at the collegiate level in Quebec with the Trappers Cégep Marie-Victorin and the Spartans Cégep du Vieux Montreal. The Spartans won the Championship Bol d’Or in 1996, Ethier’s only season as offensive coordinator with the team.
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Warren Craney
Defensive Coordinator
Warren Craney, from Chateauguay, Quebec, has been with the Concordia Stingers for eight seasons and the defensive coordinator for five.
In his playing career, Craney was in the Châteauguay Raiders system and played as a free safety with the Raiders’ QJFL team. Before joining the Stingers, Craney was the defensive line coach with Collège Vanier for three seasons. He also worked with the Cougars de St-Léonard and his junior team, Châteauguay.
At the CIS level, he has coached all three defensive units at Concordia and is widely respected for his work with linebackers. A tribute to Craney’s hard work, Mickey Donovan (2004) and Patrick Donovan (2005) earned the President’s Trophy as the outstanding defensive player in the CIS. Also under Craney’s teaching, Concordia defensive end Troy Cuningham was named the outstanding lineman in the country in 2004.
To perfect his knowledge of the game, Craney has attended the Montreal Alouettes and Toronto Argonauts training camps and has taken the opportunity to learn more as a guest coach at the University of Nebraska and University of Michigan football schools.
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Marco Ideluca
Running Backs
Marco Ideluca is a young and talented coach who brings nearly 20 years of coaching experience from the St. Leonard Cougars of the Canadian Junior Football League. Since 2000, he has led his team to six conference titles and two national finals. In 2008, the Cougars finished on top of the Ontario division with a record of 6-2.
Ideluca is entering his seventh year of involvement with the Canadian junior national team.
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Jeff Cummins
Defensive Line
Jeff Cummins captured his second AUS Football Championship in a row in 2006 with a 32-24 win against the Saint Mary’s Huskies. In 2005, the Axemen were crowned AUS Champions with a 69-6 win over St. F.X. Cummins was named the 2005 Atlantic University Sport Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. The award, voted on by his peers, honors the AUS Football Coach whose efforts had an impact on his team and the AUS Football Conference.
As head coach of the Axemen for the last five seasons, he has accumulated 26 wins and 21 losses including the post season. As a defensive end and tackle, Cummins played in the Canadian Football League on various teams for Las Vegas, Ottawa, Toronto and finished on the 1999 Grey Cup Champions Hamilton Tiger Cats, following his graduation from the University of Oregon in 1992.
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Mickey Donovan
Special Teams
Donovan is a two-time CIS All-Canadian and former national defensive player of the year. He was invited to the try out for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats when a devastating injury cut his career short. Donovan’s expertise has helped the Mustangs defense to develop into one of best in the country.
Donovan, who hails from Laconia, N.H., is a former coach with New Hampshire State (Division 1-AA) and is a former linebacker who played at the University of Maine and also at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. He was named the top defender in the CIS in 2004.
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Kyle Walters
Defensive Backs
Kyle Walters will enter his fourth season as the head football coach at the University of Guelph, after being appointed in February 2006.He’s posted a 10-13-1 regular season record. In 2007, he led the Gryphons to one of the most successful seasons in recent history finishing 4-4, marking the second .500 season in 10 years and hosting the 100 Yates Cup, their first Yates appearance since 1996.
Walters, a native of St. Thomas, Ontario, served as the Gryphons full-time assistant football coach and defensive coordinator from 2004-2005. Prior to his tenure at Guelph, Walters spent the 2003 season as the assistant special teams coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. No stranger to the University of Guelph, Walters played five seasons for the Gryphons from 1992-1996.
In 1992, he came to the University of Guelph as a running back. However, a torn ACL and broken collar bone led him to change positions to defensive back. In his rookie season, the Gryphons captured the Yates Cup. In 1995, Walters played free safety and was drafted by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the second round (10th overall) but returned to Guelph for his fifth and final season. That year, he captained the Gryphons to the 1996 Yates Cup and in 1997 graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology.
He was a two-time OUA All-Star and All-Canadian (1995, 1996). After graduation, Walters went on to play for the Tiger-Cats. During his stint with Hamilton, he played safety and halfback in the 1997 and 1998 Grey Cup. In the 2002-03 campaign, he was the special teams captain. He led the team in special team tackles for three years.