EDMONTON – University of Alberta Athletics is pleased to announce that Jeff Stead has accepted the position of Interim head coach of Golden Bears football, effective April 1, 2011.
The football program will undergo a full head coach search following the 2011 season.
Stead, originally from Okotoks, AB, spent the past three seasons as the assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach for the Golden Bears after 10 seasons as the OC and quarterbacks coach with the Manitoba Bisons, including a 2007 Vanier Cup win.
He takes over the Evergreen and Gold program, winners of three CIS championships (1968, 1973, and 1980) one week after outgoing head coach Jerry Friesen announced his resignation.
I’m excited to be in this position, but it’s bittersweet because it’s not like we won the Vanier Cup and the head coach has just retired. That is the best scenario for an assistant coach to take over a team as head coach; but like I said in my interview for the assistant head coach position, and like I’ve said in every performance review, my goal has been to become the head coach of the Golden Bears football program,” said Stead, who played quarterback at Bemidji State University (Minnesota, NCAA Div II) after graduating from Foothills Composite High School in Okotoks.
Being an Alberta boy and getting the chance to represent the U of A has me and my family pretty excited. Becoming a head coach of a CIS program has been my goal and dream for the past 13 years since I started coaching at this level, and now I have that opportunity.
That opportunity officially begins on April 1, and will shift into another gear on April 28 when Golden Bears spring camp begins.
Step one is securing the recruits that have already undergone the process of being identified by us, which I think we have a really good handle on already. Step two is solidifying the coaching staff. We’ll have to make one addition to the defensive side of the ball, but otherwise our coaching staff remains largely intact,” noted Stead.
The football team will hold a meeting today between 5:00 and 5:35 pm at Foote Field, and has practices this Saturday and Sunday in the U of A Pavilion between 4:00 and 6:00 pm. Spring camp starts April 28 and runs until May 1. Coach Stead can be reached via his cell at (780) 554-7752.
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