John Stevens is taking the reins of the Calgary Colts.
The defensive co-ordinator of the Prairie Football Conference (PFC) club for the past two seasons, Stevens will assume head coaching duties with the Colts during the 2012 junior gridiron campaign. He replaces longtime skipper Keith Kendal, who led the Colts to their two national junior championships in 1989 and ’90, and all four of their appearances in the PFC’s title game.
Stevens brings a wealth of knowledge to his new post with the Colts, having accrued more than a quarter-century of coaching experience — the majority of it at the university level. Stevens was head coach of the Antigonish, N.S-based St. Francis Xavier X-Men of Canadian University Sport for 10 years, leading the X-Men to a Vanier Cup appearance in 1996 and earning CIS coach-of-the-year honours in 1997. As the defensive co-ordinator of the University of Calgary Dinos for seven years, ending in 2009, Stevens contributed significantly to the Dinos’ rebuilding efforts and current standing as a CIS powerhouse.
Over the past two years with the Colts, Stevens has arguably built the most tenacious defence in the six-team PFC.
The Colts would also like to express profound and profuse gratitude to Kendal for the major contributions he has made to the junior club’s program for many years. After leading the club to its back-to-back national titles, Kendal retired for 15 years, but returned in December 2005 to resurrect a struggling franchise — and restored it to respectability in short order.
During his second stint as head coach, a six-year reign from 2006 through 2011, Kendal compiled a record of 23-22-3.
During that period, the Colts also advanced twice to the PFC championship final twice, in 2008 and 2011. Kendal was named the Canadian Junior Football League’s coach of the year in 2008.
For more information on the Colts program and activities, please visit the team website at www.calgarycolts.com
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