Home › Forums › Talk Hockey › Articles › Reply To: Articles
hockeygodOr… "How to build a team and use what could easily slide into "professional jealousy"… as positive motivational fodder… by Blake Nill."
Even though this is an article about CIS Football, there are some interesting comments from Blake Nill, head coach of U of C, who lost again to Laval. I have talked to Blake on many occasions as he joined U of C my last year I coached there… I like how he talks about elevating the level of play in this article – rather than complain about how good the other team is. (I know there are whispers of payments / incentives to play football on the Laval team… I have heard it happens in other sports at other schools too. But the CIS is a toothless entity… anyways, I don't want to get off-topic. Also interesting to read the last edition of Sports Illustrated – the lead story is about a sports agent who went on the record declaring he had paid players to use him as an agent – even when they were in school. "The truth will set you free" – his comments were met with a lot of people distancing themselves; having convenient memory lapses; or discrediting him and his comments altogether!)
Anyways, Blake has some neat comments on trying to get the program / team better. He has moved the program forward in a short time (and they do have money – a very large, organized alumni with open wallets. They 'fundraise' an amazing amount of money each year. Good for them!)
It does take a few years to turn a program around. I think 3-5 years to fully put one's stamp on it.
—–
Dinos coach concedes Laval has set new standard
By Allen Cameron, Calgary Herald November 27, 2010
Good teams reach championship games; great teams win them, and the University of Calgary Dinos got a convincing reminder of that Saturday afternoon.
The Laval Rouge et Or, 29-2 winners over the University of Calgary Dinos in the Vanier Cup for their sixth national title since 1999, are Canadian university football's richest program thanks a wealthy private backer and unparalleled fan and corporate support.
But if other teams want to play at their level, suggested Dinos coach Blake Nill after the game, they have to follow the same model.
"I don't expect them to slow down," said Nill. "It's a matter of other teams sincerely wanting to get up there. They have to keep raising the bar.
"We need someone stepping up and saying, you know what? I'm prepared to spend this because that's what football means to us. If you look at this right here, tell me what CIS team wouldn't want this at their university. Laval said, 'We want it.' Now, other teams have to decided if they really want this or not."
But it goes beyond financial support; at the end of the day, all the money in the world means nothing if you don't have the players, and Nill had an early clue prior to Saturday's game that those players were ready.
"I was watching them warm up and I didn't see one of their guys drop a ball in the warm-up," he said. "I was watching for that; I was sitting there going, 'Geez, at least throw a poor pass.' But not one dropped pass that I saw.
"It just shows you that their plan and the model with which they run their team has superseded the rest of the country. Every now and then, a team gets close and every now and then they lose, but the consistency with which they've won just makes it difficult (for other teams)."
Which isn't to say the Dinos can't reach those heights; since hiring Nill, the Dinos have reached the final four in Canada three straight years, and lost the last two Vanier Cups.
As well, there is promising talent in the system. Offensively, the quarterback reins will be passed from Erik Glavic to Eric Dzwilewski, who was named the country's top rookie earlier this week. Running back Matt Walter may be back for a fifth year, while Steven Lumbala continues to improve in leaps and bounds.
The defence looks terrific next season with youngsters such as linebacker Sam Hurl and defensive back Doctor Cassama.
"I'm a realist," said Nill. "I think we can beat these guys, and there are other teams that can beat them. But the teams have to get better, that's all it is. It's do-able. I told my kids after the game that in five years we've come so far. And we will keep going. We're going to lose a couple key guys, but that's part of it. You have to keep building and rebuilding.
"I told my coaches (after the game) that the best team won, there's no doubt about that. We're a good football team, but you can see the difference right now. We just have to keep trying to get better, getting better athletes, train harder, and we'll be back some day."
acameron@calgaryherald.com
Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
"Great education depends on great teaching."