Nill enough for Dinos?

By Sean Nyilassy

After the Dinos football team’s head coach of 10 years, Tony Fasano, was let go in early January, a scramble to find a replacement began.

By late February, that replacement had already been appointed. Blake Nill, an ex-Dino, will become the fifth head coach of the Dinos football team in 42 years.

Nill first joined the Dinos in 1980 on the defensive line. He started the 1981 and 1982 seasons before being drafted to the Montreal Alouettes in 1983. Nill spent six years in the CFL with the Alouettes, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Nill, now 44 years old, has been head coach of the Saint Mary’s University Huskies since 1998. His record there was admirable–including two Vanier Cup wins, two times as finalists and a record six consecutive Atlantic University Sport Championships.

Under Nill’s direction, SMU won 77 per cent of regular season and 71 per cent of post-season games and produced 20 players who were drafted to the CFL. He was named Canadian Interuniversity Sport Football Coach of the Year in 1999 and was runner up on three other occasions.

Before coaching at SMU, Nill was defensive coordinator of the Saint Francis Xavier X-Men. He has also been guest coach of the Calgary Stampeders and Ottawa Renegades.

Dinos administration looks forward to having Nill behind the wheel and expect to see the Dinos challenge for the Vanier Cup in the near future. One step closer to that goal will be a winning post-season record. Peter Connellan, the Dinos head coach in 1977 and 1983-1990, has been the only one to accomplish that feat. So far.