AFL: Hec Crighton winner Quinlan replaces Hickey as Hurricanes Head Coach

****UPDATED JULY 17th, 2015 @ 11:00AM EST

Wednesday – The Holland College Hurricanes football club announced this week that Head Coach Andrew Hickey will be leaving the position to pursue graduate studies in sports management at the University of New Brunswick. Hickey joined the team in 2013 as Offensive Coordinator under then Head Coach Mark MacDougall, before assuming the top job for 2014. The Hurricanes went undefeated last season en route to their second consecutive Moosehead Cup championship.

The Hurricanes immediately announced that Kyle Quinlan will be replacing Hickey as both Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator. As quarterback for McMaster University, Quinlan led the Marauders to the Vanier Cup national championship in 2011, a game in which he was named most valuable player. The next season, he won the Hec Crighton Trophy as the CIS most valuable football player and was later named the CIS Male Athlete of the Year for 2012-2013. After attending training camp with the Montreal Alouettes, Quinlan returned to McMaster as an assistant coach for the past two seasons.

Hurricanes Team President Michael O’Grady said that Hickey’s departure has made for an unusually busy off-season for the Hurricanes: “Andrew made a big contribution in a short time, and he will certainly be missed. He leaves as a champion; and we wish him continued success in his MBA program.”

With the new football season already on the horizon, O’Grady said the Hurricanes wanted to move quickly to fill the top coaching spot.

“There was a lot of interest, and fortunately Kyle Quinlan was very excited about the opportunity. We are as thrilled as he is to have him as a part of our community. We expect a seamless transition from Andrew to Kyle.”

Quinlan is looking forward to taking over the reins.

Source: Mary Ann Misener, Holland College Hurricanes Sports Information

Mac’s Quinlan chosen to lead Holland College Hurricanes

SOURCE: Fraser Caldwell, McMaster Marauders Sports Information

The evolution of Kyle Quinlan from star player to budding coach took another step forward on July 15, when Holland College of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island announced that the Hec Crighton Trophy winner had accepted the position as the school’s Head Football Coach and Offensive Coordinator.

One of the best players to ever suit up for the Marauders, Quinlan led McMaster to the program’s lone Vanier Cup victory in 2011 before starring once again a year later as the Marauders reached the national title game and accomplished a then-CIS record winning streak of 21 games.

Since graduating from McMaster in 2013, the quarterback has made several inroads into a career on the sidelines, spending the past two seasons handling running backs and quarterbacks on the Marauder staff while assuming head coaching duties with the Hamilton Ironmen of the Ontario Varsity Football League.

Uprooting from Southern Ontario and the McMaster program he knows so well is a life-altering move for Quinlan, but it’s one that he considers necessary as he looks to progress as a coach.

“I was very lucky to have had the position that I have had at Mac, but I was feeling the itch to try some new opportunities,” says Quinlan. “I was hoping to get a call like this relatively soon, and the fact that it was a good opportunity with a good group of people made it attractive.”

Quinlan was alerted to the opportunity when the previous head coach, Andrew Hickey, elected to pursue graduate studies at the University of New Brunswick. His departure necessitated a quick turnaround, and after a two week process that progressed from a gauging of Quinlan’s interest to a campus tour a week ago, the young coach and the Holland program came to an agreement.

He takes the reins of a highly successful team, as the Holland Hurricanes compiled an 8-0 record in the Atlantic Football League in 2014 en route to their second consecutive Moosehead Cup victory. Quinlan’s first instinct was to opt for continuity, but as he explained, the situation in the AFL should give him a largely clean slate with which to work.

“I didn’t want to come in and change everything because it didn’t look like it needed to be changed,” said Quinlan. “But the coaches explained that because of the turnover — most of the guys are on two-year diploma programs — there would be a lot of change. There may only be two returnees on offence next season.”

The Atlantic Football League is a unique mixture of programs of different stature and aspirations. The four-team operation includes a college team in Holland, two satellites of the University of New Brunswick and the Dalhousie Tigers, whose ultimate aim to is ascend to the ranks of the CIS.

“That will be good for the level of play, because they’re going to have to beat us in order to get into the CIS,” said Quinlan of Dalhousie. “It’s a unique league, because there are a bunch of different setups. But I’m intrigued by that.”

His colleagues in the Marauder coaching fraternity are excited for Quinlan and the new challenge he stands to face. They are, however, now tasked with finding a new mentor for McMaster’s quarterbacks, an addition which is expected to be made official in the coming week.