Legendary University of Calgary football coach Peter Connellan is headed to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Connellan will enter the Hall as a builder with the Class of 2012 as announced by the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum on Sunday. He will join former Mount Allison running back Éric Lapointe along with former CFL players Jack Abendschan, Damon Allen, Tyrone Jones (posthumous), and Milt Stegall. Senator David Braley will also enter the Hall in the builder category.
The week-long induction festivities will take place in September 2012.
Connellan follows in the footsteps of Windsor’s Gino Fracas, who last month became the first CIS coach in decades to be inducted into the CFHOF for his accomplishments in the Canadian university game.
Already a two-time inductee to the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame as a builder (1998) and with his 1983-85 Dinos football teams (2010), Connellan was enshrined in the University of Calgary’s athletics hall of fame in 2008. He will be the first University of Calgary repsresentative in the CFHOF.
“All CIS coaches should strive to live up to Peter’s coaching standards,” said Ron Wuotila, the Dinos’ director of athletics and recreation. “The University of Calgary is pleased that the Canadian Football Hall of Fame has chosen to induct him – they simply could not select a more deserving coach.”
Few coaches in any sport at any level have had the success and career Connellan enjoyed. A native of Regina and a graduate of the University of Alberta, Peter joined the Dinos football program as an assistant coach following a career with the Calgary Board of Education in the mid-1970s and took over the head job on an interim basis for the 1977 season – winning the conference title, a sign of things to come. He was given the full-time head coaching position prior to the 1983 campaign, sparking one of the most successful coaching tenures in CIS history.
In his 13 years at the helm, the Dinos never had a sub-.500 season, reached the Canada West playoffs 10 times – in an era where only the top two teams reached the post-season – and won eight conference championships. Calgary advanced to five CIS national finals, winning the Vanier Cup four times (’83, ’85, ’88, ’95). Connellan became the first head coach in history to lead his team to four Vanier Cup titles, a record that stood until last year when current Laval sideline boss Glen Constantin guided his program to a fifth banner.
Connellan’s regular season winning percentage was a staggering .673, with 70 victories and only 32 losses. His post-season record was even more stunning at .727 (16-6), and his overall coaching record against Canadian universities was 87-38-2 (.682). He won the Frank Tindall trophy as CIS coach of the year in both 1977 and 1985. He also developed a significant number of players into the professional ranks, with 45 of his athletes selected in the CFL entry draft during his tenure.
Connellan retired from coaching following the Dinos’ 1995 Vanier Cup title, a 54-24 defeat of Western Ontario, but did return to serve as offensive coordinator for the team for two seasons in 2004 and 2005.
Connellan also served as a professor in the Faculty of Physical Education during his coaching tenure.
“Peter Connellan was the consummate teacher and coach. His record at the helm of the Dinos speaks for itself – few university football coaches in this country have experienced such success,” said Wuotila. “His teams were extraordinarily well prepared and along the way, he developed outstanding football players and citizens – many of whom have given back and directly impacted our current football team.”