Outscored 330-80 so far this season, SFU gets ready to battle crosstown rival UBC
By Lyndon Little,
Vancouver Sun
The team’s on-field record looks ugly, but the Simon Fraser University athletic department is prepared to be patient with its rebuilding Clansmen football program.
SFU director of athletics and recreation Wilf Wedmann says his administration was looking at the long-term picture when it changed football coaches this past off-season, letting go head man Chris Beaton after 23 years and hiring newcomer Frank Boehres.
After suffering through a winless season in 2005, it was hoped the change might spark a revival in 2006. However, the Clan goes into tonight’s game against cross-town rival UBC Thunderbirds at Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium still looking for its first win of the campaign.
The Clan, whose football graduates once dominated the Canadian portion of rosters across the CFL, has now lost 15 straight Canada West games and has been outscored this season 330-80.
“Absolutely, we still have faith in this coaching staff,” says Wedmann. “We knew this season was going to be a challenge for us. We never expected an immediate turnaround.”
Wedmann acknowledges the university’s late decision in making a head-coaching change made an already tough job for the incoming coach all the more difficult.
The last Clan contest of the 2005 season was on Oct. 18, but the SFU athletic department didn’t notify Beaton of his dismissal until Feb. 22. Then it wasn’t until April 27 that Boehres — an assistant coach at the University of Alberta who is also a high school teacher in Fort Saskatchewan — was announced as the new man.
That meant Boehres missed out on the entire spring practice period as well as the bulk of the key recruiting season.
Wedmann explains the delay as partly a desire to take a long look at the past coaching regime as well as the necessary university hiring process.
“First, we wanted to make sure the previous coaches were fairly evaluated,” Wedmann says. “After all, they’re good men. Then there are certain procedures the university must go through when hiring somebody. We’re not talking about adding somebody on a contract. We’re talking about a full-time university employee.”
The long hiring delay has led some people to speculate the SFU athletic administration wouldn’t be disappointed if the football program continued to slide, making it easier to drop the most expensive sport in its intercollegiate roster.
Wedmann says nothing could be further from the truth. He points out the school continues to move forward with plans to build a permanent football stadium on campus, a perk even the great SFU football teams of the past never enjoyed.
“Football has been an important part of this university going back to the school’s beginnings,” notes Wedmann. “When you are not doing well, there’s always a chance rumours like this will come up.
“Our goal,” adds Wedmann, “is to try and restore the program to where it was. We want to go back to the past in order to move forward to the future.”
Meantime, as much as the 0-5-0-1 Clan craves a breakthrough in the win column, the 3-2 Thunderbirds see tonight’s game as crucial to their playoff aspirations.
While the T-Birds, now ranked No. 9 nationally, were sitting out this past weekend, both the Alberta Golden Bears and Regina Rams picked up victories. That has left UBC holding down a share of the fourth and final post-season berth, two points behind Alberta and tied with Regina.
Following tonight’s contest, the T-Birds travel to face Calgary Sunday, then have a showdown with the No. 2 ranked Manitoba Bisons in their final regular-season contest Oct. 27.
“It’s important that we continue to play well at this time of the year,” notes UBC head coach Ted Goevia. “There’s always a bit of a concern coming out of a bye week.”
Boehres’ team will be playing on short preparation after coming off a 63-8 loss to Manitoba this past Saturday in Winnipeg.
“There’s no sense bellyaching about the schedule because you can’t change it,” says the SFU coach.
IN SHORT: T-Birds QB Blake Smelser needs 333 yards in his final three regular-season contests to become UBC’s all-time passing leader. With 32 more yards, he’ll pass Manitoba’s Shane Munson for the No. 5 spot on the Canada West career list . . . UBC running back Chris Ciezki is No. 1 in CW rushing with an average of 128.6 yards per game.
