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Friday, March 31, 2006
Sumarah to bring Huskies back to prominence as new coach
Jody Jewers /
The Daily News
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Steve Sumarah’s mission is clear.
“We’re not allowed to lose,” said Saint Mary’s director of athletics David Murphy when introducing Sumarah as the university’s next head football coach yesterday at a news conference. “Hopefully, the next time we do this, we’ll have a few big trophies sitting here.”
Sumarah, a 39-year-old Haligonian, had the interim tag removed from his title, having been in charge of the program since Feb. 20, when Blake Nill resigned to take over his alma mater, the Calgary Dinos. Sumarah, the offensive co-ordinator during Nill’s eight-year tenure at Saint Mary's, received a three-year contract.
He inherits a team that finished out of first place in the Atlantic conference for the first time since 1998 last season, placing third with a 4-4 record before bowing out in the conference semifinal to the St. Francis Xavier X-Men.
His task will be to return Saint Mary’s to prominence on the national scene. Nill’s Huskies went to four Vanier Cups between 1999 and 2003, winning in 2001 and 2002.
“To get back on top of this conference, the biggest thing has to be consistency,” said Sumarah, the sixth head coach of Saint Mary’s football in 48 seasons. “At times, we showed we were capable of playing with teams like Laval, but other times, we showed we were incapable of putting together even a decent quarter of football.”
Sumarah was the consensus frontrunner for the position, and was believed to be the best choice when it came to maintaining continuity among the assistant coaches and players. Sumarah said yesterday he believes all the other assistants from last season will be back.
One of the immediate tasks he faces will be finding a replacement for his old job of full-time paid assistant. Sumarah will continue to run the offence, but is looking for a defensive co-ordinator. “There’s been some conversations,” said Sumarah. “Hopefully, in a week, we’ll have everything solidified, with everybody in place.”
Several players were in attendance yesterday, including defensive back Jeff Zelinski, whom Sumarah recruited out of junior football in B.C.
“He’s a great guy,” said Zelinski. “I went to Saskatchewan (Huskies) training camp, and when I left, I was driving to the airport and got a call, and it was him and coach Nill, and they were pretty adamant about me coming out here. That made me feel really wanted.”
Huskies assistant Pierre Lefebvre applied for the job, but didn’t get an interview. He was pleased with Sumarah’s selection.
“It’s great news,” said Lefebvre. “Blake’s departure created a bit of anxiety, and now we have a new coach that brings that continuity to the program, and we have to get behind him 100 per cent.”
Former Huskies linebacker Gus Karouzakis, ex-Hamilton Tiger-Cats offensive co-ordinator Jamie Barresi, and Edmonton junior Huskies coach Mike McLean were the other finalists.
jjewers@hfxnews.ca
STEVE SUMARAH BIO
AGE : 39
HOMETOWN : Halifax
AS A PLAYER : Member of the St. Patrick’s Irish in high school ... Five-year university career as a receiver with St. Francis Xavier (1985-88) and Saint Mary’s (1991).
AS A COACH : Assistant at St .
F.X. from 1994-97, winning 1996 Atlantic Bowl ... Offensive co-ordinator at Saint Mary’s since 1998, winning six Atlantic conference titles, four national semifinal bowl games and two Vanier Cups ... A guest coach in the CFL with Calgary and Ottawa, and in Arena Football 2 with Greensboro.
FAMILY : Mom Dot and dad Albert live in Halifax. Younger brother Mark is a Ph.D. student in chemistry at Carleton University in Ottawa.
OF NOTE : Sumarah is only the sixth head coach of Saint Mary’s football in the last 48 years. Bob Hayes (1958-69), Al Keith (1970-75, 1979-82), Jim Clark (1976-78), Larry Uteck (1983-97) and Blake Nill (1998-2005) are the others.
- Staff
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