Flory named new Huskies football coach

The 40-year-old former nine-time Canadian Football League all-star and three-time Grey Cup champion has been hired as the new head coach of the U of S Huskies football team.

Flory, who also served as head of the CFL Players Association following a 15-year professional playing career, is a former Huskie football standout who helped lead the team to two Vanier Cup national championship titles in 1996 and 1998 and has spent the previous three seasons serving as the Huskies’ offensive co-ordinator. He takes over from Brian Towriss, who had served as Huskies head coach for the past 33 years and left the program as the winningest university football coach in the country. 

For Flory, it’s the chance of a lifetime to serve as the head coach of the football program that helped develop him into a CFL star.

“I am truly honoured and humbled to be selected as the head coach,” said Flory, who played five seasons with the Huskies from 1994 to 1998 and was twice named a CIS All-Canadian. “As a University of Saskatchewan football and engineering alumnus, I left this school and football program with the life skills necessary to be successful. After my playing career was over, being a head coach was a career aspiration of mine and to do it at my alma mater is a dream come true.”

Flory was selected following an extensive search that included applicants from across North America. The selection committee was chaired by Chad London, the dean of the College of Kinesiology, and also featured former Huskie and current CFLer Patrick Neufeld, Football Canada president Kim Wudrick, Huskie athletic director Basil Hughton and U of S women’s basketball and national team head coach Lisa Thomaidis.

London said Flory is the perfect fit to give the historic program a fresh new start.

“We were looking for the best possible coach to lead the program and Scott’s vision for the future is the change we needed at this time,” said London. “Obviously credentials and experience were important, but we were also looking for the right fit for our student-athletes, for our university and for our community. Scott is passionate, inspiring and dedicated and is truly committed to the development of our student-athletes. He also knows what it takes to win and return the program to national prominence.”

A native of Regina, Flory was a third-round draft pick of the Montreal Alouettes in the 1998 CFL draft and went on to twice earn the league’s most outstanding offensive lineman award. He is excited to bring a new approach to Huskie football, while also continuing to build on the traditions and commitment to excellence that the program has always been known for.

“As a student-athlete, Huskie football taught me the meaning of maturity, responsibility, hard work, respect and the commitment to excellence necessary to be a champion,” said Flory, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the U of S. “In respecting what I learned, this is a big opportunity for this program to grow, change and move forward. There will be a shifting approach to how we handle football. Everything will be under the microscope, analyzed and changed, if necessary, in order to pursue excellence.” 

The Huskies posted a 5-3 record in the Canada West conference last season before being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Calgary Dinos. The Huskies will return to the field for the first time under Flory when the team kicks off spring camp in May at Griffiths Stadium in PotashCorp Park.