Gerry McGrath, head coach of the Concordia Stingers football team, is pleased to announce changes to his coaching staff for the 2007 Quebec university season.
Three very accomplished former Stingers will change the face of McGrath’s staff.
Brad Collinson, a graduate of the Stingers program and a former CFLer with the Montreal Alouettes, will add to his duties as offensive line coach. He will take over as recruiting co-ordinator and as director of the Stinger Football School, which will take place June 25-29 at Concordia Stadium.
Collinson suited up as a centre and long snapper with the Stingers for three season, beginning in 2000. He was a team captain and a two-time recipient of the Hal McCarney Trophy as Concordia’s top offensive lineman.
He signed as a free agent with the Montreal Alouettes in the spring of 2003. He played 18 regular season games as a long snapper. He also took part in many of the Alouettes' community programs, including a “School is Cool Jam” travelling basketball program, fundraising with the Montreal Alouettes hockey team and an anti-bullying program.
Luc Pelland, one of the most accomplished football players to ever don the maroon and gold, returns to the Stingers as the linebacker coach.
For five seasons Pelland, an outside linebacker and team captain, patrolled the field racking up tackles and honors. He recorded 167.5 tackles from 1990-’94 and currently holds down the 9th spot in Quebec career tackles. He was an all-Canadian in both 1993 and ’94. In his last year he was the unanimous choice as the Ontario-Quebec Interuniversity Football Conference defensive MVP and a finalist for the President’s Trophy awarded annually to the outstanding defensive player in the country. Pelland was also a two-time academic all-Canadian.
His coaching résumé includes stops in Thonon Les Bains, France as a player/coach, with the Châteauguay Raiders organization and most recently with the Vanier College Cheetahs. He was the linebacker coach and defensive co-ordinator with the 2006 Bol D’Or champion Cheetahs.
Dave Spence also joins the Stingers, taking over the receiving corps. The former wide receiver and return specialist played three seasons with Concordia, including 1998 when the Stingers won the Atlantic Bowl and participated in their first ever national championship. After his last year in 1999, he joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders for the 2000 season. He has stayed involved in football, working as a personal trainer and helping out at Vanier College.
The Stingers will start training camp in mid-August in preparation for the Quebec conference season which starts Friday, Sept. 7.
