Gee Gees hope one of remaining 2 candidates fills the void

The Ottawa Gee Gees football players want a coach. Administration hopes to provide them this request by early next week. In the past couple months the Gee Gees have lost their head coach J.P. Asselin and offensive coordinator Chris Coulson to the upstart Carleton Ravens. Two coaches are being brought in for interviews over the next couple days.

The two coaches being interviewed for the vacant head coaching position are Danny Laramee (top picture) and Gary Etcheverry (below). Both candidates are experienced coaches with ties to the Gee Gees.

Laramee was the assistant head coach of the Gee Gees from 2002 until 2007. During his tenure at Ottawa U he coordinated both the Offense and the Defense. From 2008 to 2010 he was the defensive coordinator for St. Mary’s (under current Carleton head coach Steve Sumarah) and in 2011 he was the offensive coordinator with McGill. Prior to working with Ottawa Laramee also coached at Mount Allison, Acadia, and the Edmonton Eskimos.

The challenge of a Laramee hire is that he already turned down the job 1 1/2 years ago. He was the Gee Gees first choice when Asselin was hired. Will things have changed over that period of time?

Etcheverry has a history of coaching on both sides of the border and in Europe. He began his coaching career in 1978 and has coached in the NCAA, CFL, Europe, CJFL, and the CIS. His one head coaching experience was in 2002 with the Toronto Argonauts. His most recent coaching experience was the defensive coordinator with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Etcheverry would be the choice of current Gee Gees assistant Cory McDermid, as the two are long time friends. The challenge of an Etcheverry hire is that the offensive staff has been completed gutted (Asselin, Coulson, Daymond) and the assistants still in place are defensive coaches, and Etcheverry’s expertise is on the defense and special teams side of the football.

The average tenure of a Gee Gees head coach in the past 25 years is 4 seasons.

J.P. Asselin (1 season) 2011
J.P. Asselin (1 season) 2010 (Interim)
Denis Piche (8 seasons) 2002-2009
Andy McEvoy (1 season) 2001 (Interim)
Marcel Bellefeuille (3 seasons) 1998-2000
Larry Ring (7 seasons) 1991-1997
Jim Daley (6 seasons) 1985-1990