DeLaval joins hometown Dinos for 2011

CALGARY – University of Calgary football coach Blake Nill announced Monday that Greg DeLaval will join the Dinos as the program’s full-time assistant coach effective April 2011.

DeLaval rejoins the Dinos after spending three years as head coach at the University of Toronto, where he started a significant rebuild effort of the historic Varsity Blues program. He ended the longest losing streak in CIS history in his first game in September 2008, and his 2010 team posted Toronto’s best record in 15 seasons.

He returns to Calgary after spending two seasons (2006 and 2007) with Nill and the Dinos as special teams coordinator and offensive assistant. He will take over many of the duties on the offensive side of the football as well as administrative duties relating to the football program.

“I’m certainly excited about the opportunity,” DeLaval said Monday from Toronto. “I know the people that are in place and it’s exciting to get to work with them again. Plus it’s an opportunity to come to a competitive program right away, so I’m feeling pretty fortunate, and Blake is a close friend. It’s really an ideal situation for me.”

“The addition of Coach DeLaval is an important step in our continued development as a football program,” said Nill, who enters his sixth season with the Dinos in 2011. “He did a fantastic job in Toronto and I know he will bring the same dedication here to Calgary. I’m especially looking forward to having such a reputable coach working with our young quarterbacks.”

A Calgary native, DeLaval led St. Mary’s High School to the 1986 city championship as a quarterback and receiver and is a member of the school’s sports hall of fame. He went east for his varsity career, playing for St. Francis Xavier in 1990 and from 1994-97. He was a starting wide receiver for the X-Men in the 1996 Vanier Cup and was an Academic All-Canadian.

He began his coaching career at StFX in 2001 where he led the program’s recruiting and fundraising efforts, then headed to Toronto to be a full-time assistant with the Varsity Blues from 2003-05. After his first two-year stint with Calgary, he returned to Toronto as first Interim Coach and then Head Coach for three seasons.

DeLaval will be reunited with his wife Marlo and his two young children in Calgary, a factor he said was a significant part of his decision to return home.

“I was never able to have my family here with me the whole time I was in Toronto, so that definitely played a role,” he said. “I have family in Calgary, my wife has family there, and we’ve had a house there the whole time I’ve been gone. We feel pretty fortunate to be heading into this situation.”

DeLaval will remain in Toronto for the next several weeks to assist with the Varsity Blues’ transition to a new coach, then relocate to Calgary mid-April to take over his new duties.

The Dinos are three-time defending Canada West champions, have appeared in the past two Vanier Cups, and are set to reload for another run at the title this fall. Fans will get a first look at the 2011 roster when the team hits the field for Spring Camp, which runs April 29-May 1 at McMahon Stadium.

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Ben Matchett