Longtime Bisons football coach retiring

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This article was published 12/08/2024 (774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brian Dobie is hoping to go out in style.

The longtime head coach of the Manitoba Bisons football team has announced the 2024 season will be his last.

This will mark his 29th season leading the Bisons and 50th coaching the sport he loves.

“This was my dream job, a position that I’d wanted my whole adult and professional life,” Dobie said in a press release. “The Bison Football program has become our family, a family that my wife and I have embraced, loved and cherished and a home where our daughter grew up.”

Dobie, who spent the first 21 years of his coaching career with the Churchill Bulldogs high school program, has won five Canada West Coach of the Year awards (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006) and a U SPORTS Coach of the Year in 2001.

Dobie took over from Ron Lancaster Jr. in 1996 and despite winning just three games over the first three seasons, he helped turn the program around.

The Bisons have gone 107-104-1 during the regular season and a post-season record of 13-15 under Dobie, which includes a 1-1 mark in the Vanier Cup.

He was inducted into the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association Hall of Fame Class of 2015 as a Builder (Churchill High School Football) and he’s coached 63 student-athletes drafted by CFL teams and two that made it to the NFL, Israel Idonije and David Onyemata.

Dobie, the winningest coach in school history and led the Bisons to the Vanier Cup title in 2007, is also known for his unbridled passion and ability to connect with his players.

“Brian Dobie has been the heartbeat of Bison Football for decades. His energy and infectious enthusiasm have inspired our student-athletes, staff, and the University of Manitoba community,” Gene Muller, director of Athletics and Recreation at the University of Manitoba, said in a press release. “His unwavering love for the program and genuine care for ‘his guys’ have left an indelible mark on the Bison football program. We are deeply grateful for his dedication and leadership over the years.”

The Bisons open 2024 U Sports football regular season on Aug. 31 against the Saskatchewan Huskies and it wraps up on Saturday, Oct. 26 against the UBC Thunderbirds.

Muller says the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management will initiate its formal search and recruitment process for Dobie’s successor in September and the goal is for a new Bisons’ head coach to begin in December.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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