HAMILTON — One legendary football coach remembered another one while discussing his induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Former University of Saskatchewan head coach Brian Towriss was enshrined Thursday for building the Huskies into a perennial power. The 61-year-old product of Moose Jaw also deserves recognition for helping build the sport of football in Saskatchewan.
But Towriss wasn’t the first Hall of Famer to do that — and he thought about his predecessor before Thursday’s ceremony.
“When I was growing up, Gord Currie was a man who I looked up to and respected a great deal,” Towriss said of the longtime Regina Rams head coach. “He had been at it for a while then and now he’s in (the Hall of Fame).
“To be mentioned with names like that in Saskatchewan is kind of humbling and puts things in perspective for me because he did so much.”
Towriss was joined in the Class of 2017 by one other builder (former Calgary Stampeders executive Stan Schwartz) and four standout CFL players (Kelvin Anderson, Anthony Calvillo, Mike O’Shea and Geroy Simon).
Towriss played high school football at A.E. Peacock Collegiate in Moose Jaw before joining the Rams. He never played for Regina, though; he received a $500 scholarship to the U of S and headed north to join the Huskies.
He spent four seasons on the Huskies’ defensive line before becoming an assistant coach with the team in 1979. In 1984, he moved up to head coach — and won a Canadian university-record 196 games over the next 33 years.
Saskatchewan made nine Vanier Cup appearances during Towriss’ tenure, winning in 1990, 1996 and 1998.
“We didn’t want to build a team that could win once; we wanted to build a program that could win year after year and be competitive year after year,” said Towriss, who left the program this past December. “If you look back, that was our major accomplishment.
“We haven’t got to the national scene in the last eight or 10 years, but we were still a winning team. We had lots of 5-and-3, 6-and-2 seasons. We didn’t have too many losing seasons in those 33 years. I think there were only seven and four of them were in the first four years.”
Towriss’ program put 47 players into the CFL in his time at the helm. He joins one of those players — former Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive lineman Gene Makowsky — in the Hall.
“We treated the players in the way that we wanted them to treat us: With respect,” said Towriss, who was joined in Hamilton for the induction ceremony by his wife (Vicki) and their children (Kellie and Jake).
“We kept in mind what their priorities should be and we got that return over and over from a lot of them. Those kids would give you the shirts off their backs still today. That’s the rewarding thing to look back on.”
Simon, 42, tries not to look back on what might have been.
A product of Johnstown, Pa., Simon tried his luck in the NFL before finding his way to Winnipeg in 1999. What followed was a 15-year CFL career that included league records for receptions (1,029, since surpassed by Nik Lewis) and receiving yards (16,352).
“If I had stayed in the NFL for a few years, who knows if I ever would have come up to the CFL?” Simon said. “It just so happened that I had been cut probably seven times in two years (by NFL teams) and I was tired of that. I wanted a true opportunity and that’s what the Winnipeg Blue Bombers gave me.”
Simon spent two seasons with the Bombers, 12 with the B.C. Lions and one with the Roughriders. He appeared in four Grey Cup games, including the 2013 contest that was played at Mosaic Stadium.
In what ended up being the last game of his career, Simon caught two touchdown passes in Saskatchewan’s 45-23 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“That one year was very special to me,” said Simon, who was acqu
ired from the Lions by then-Roughriders general manager Brendan Taman — the man who had brought Simon to the CFL with the Bombers in 1999.
“If I was going to leave B.C. to go anywhere, it was going to be Saskatchewan and Brendan came to the rescue and gave me an opportunity. To go there when the Lions thought my career was over and win a Grey Cup was very special.
“That Grey Cup was probably one of the most important games in the history of the Riders and I think I played a part in helping that team win that game. I’m very proud of that game and that season.”
Anderson rushed for at least 1,000 yards in each of his eight CFL seasons. The former Calgary and B.C. tailback won two Grey Cups in his career.
Calvillo played 20 seasons in the CFL and retired as pro football’s all-time leader in passing yards (79,816). The longtime Montreal Alouettes quarterback was named the CFL’s most outstanding player three times and won three Grey Cups.
O’Shea, who played linebacker for the Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts, won three Grey Cups during his 16-year career. He retired with 1,151 defensive tackles, a CFL record for Canadian-born players and the second-most in league history.
