Alouettes complete 2015 coaching staff
January 29, 2015 - Canadian Football League (CFL)
Montreal Alouettes News Release
Montreal, January 29, 2015 - Montreal Alouettes head coach Tom Higgins, and his coaching staff met with members of the media on Thursday during a lunch meeting in the team's locker room at Olympic Stadium in order to introduce the offensive coaching staff for the next season.
The Alouettes coaching staff has also welcomed Chris Tormey as the linebackers coach, replacing Greg Quick, who was recently named defensive coordinator for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Tormey will have the chance to oversee some of the best linebackers in the CFL, including Chip Cox, Bear Woods, Kyries Hebert and Winston Venable. Tormey arrives in Montreal with over twenty years of caoching experience, he who was the head coach of the University of Idaho Vandals and the University of Nevada Wolf Pack.
Tom Higgins, Head Coach (2nd season with the Alouettes)
Higgins is entering his 24th season as a CFL coach with additional years as an administrator. He began his CFL coaching career in 1985 as an assistant with the Calgary Stampeders. Prior to joining the Stampeders, he served three years on the coaching staff at the University of Calgary, working for Canadian Football Hall of Fame coach Peter Connellan and helping the Dinos win the 1983 Vanier Cup. He won the Grey Cup as a head coach with the Edmonton in Eskimos in 2003, earning the CFL's Coach of the Year Award that same season, as well as in 2005 as head coach of the Stampeders. Higgins was a significant component to the spectacular turnover the Alouettes had in the second half of the 2014 season.
Noel Thorpe, Defensive Coordinator, Assistant Head Coach (9th season with the Alouettes)
Thorpe is entering his third year as the Alouettes' defensive coordinator and is coming off a season in which he coached the defence, which led the league with 47 turnovers. In 2011 and 2012, Thorpe was part of the Universite de Montreal coaching staff, spending his final season with the Carabins as the team's defensive coordinator, allowing the fewest points in the country with 102.
Turk Schonert, Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach (2nd season with the Alouettes)
Schonert began his coaching career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1992, where he was responsible for the quarterbacks. He subsequently joined the Buffalo Bills, the Carolina Panthers, the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints before returning with the Bills in 2006, in the same position. In July 2014, Schonert joined the coaching staff of the Alouettes as a consultant, before being appointed as the wide receivers coach a few weeks later. In this role last season, he saw his proteges Duron Carter and SJ Green finish the season strong, while Green finished the season with a harvest of 835 yards on 53 catches. In the final of the East, he scored three touchdowns in addition to harvest 126 receiving yards.
Kavis Reed, Special Teams Coordinator (1st season with Alouettes)
Reed, who played five seasons in the CFL between 1995 and 1999, has 13 seasons of coaching experience North of the border, including three as the Edmonton Eskimos head coach from 2011 to 2013. In his first season as the Eskimos head coach, he led the team to an 11-7 season and a second place finish as well as a Western Final berth. The team had only won seven games the previous year and Reed was named a coach of the year finalist.
Ryan Dinwiddie, Running Backs Coach (3rd season with the Alouettes)
After beginning his playing career with the Alouettes in 2005, Dinwiddie made his coaching debut in Montreal in the 2013 season as the club's quality control coach on offence. In his second season with the Alouettes, Dinwiddie climbed rapidly in the ranks of the offensive coaching staff playing an active role in the emergence of the team's young quarterback, Jonathan Crompton.
Anthony Calvillo, Receivers Coach (1st season with the Alouettes)
Following a stellar 20-year playing career in the CFL, Anthony Calvillo will make his coaching debut in 2015. The 42-year-old spent 16 years in Montreal where he established himself as the all-time professional football passing yards leader (79 816 yds) as well as the most career touchdown passes with 455. He also leads profesionnal football for most pass completions with 5892 passes. The three-time Grey Cup champion was named CFL's most outstanding player in 2003, 2008 and 2009.
Kris Sweet, Offensive Line Coach (2nd season with the Alouettes)
Sweet is entering his second season with the Alouettes having previously coached in the CFL in the past, including as the Edmonton Eskimos' offensive line coach in 2013. He began his CFL coaching career in Calgary as the Stampeders' offensive line coach from 2007-2010, helping the team win the Grey Cup in 2008 over the Alouettes at Olympic Stadium. In Sweet's first season with the Stamps, the club led the CFL in both total offence and rushing offence. In 2012, he was the Saskatchewan Roughriders' offensive line coach and run game coordinator.
Keith Willis, Defensive Line Coach (3rd season with the Alouettes)
Willis returns to the Alouettes for a third season after contributing to Montreal's dominant defence in both 2013 and 2014. Under Willis' wing last year, defensive end John Bowman recorded 12 quarterback sacks, tied for fifth place in the CFL. Previously a defensive line coach for the North Carolina State Wolfpack from 2007 to 2012, Willis also enjoyed a long playing career as a defensive lineman himself before becoming a coach, spending 12 years in the NFL and recording 59 career quarterback sacks over 12 seasons, including 10 with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Chris Tormey, Linebackers Coach (1st season with the Alouettes)
Tormey joins the Alouettes with over 20 years of coaching experience at the NCAA level. He was the head coach of the University of Idaho Vandals, his Alma Mater, from 1995 to 1999. In 1998, he led the Vandals to a 9-3 record good for first place in the Big West Conference. He subsequently led to the team to its first ever Bowl Game, which the Vandals won. More recently, he was the defensive coordinator at the University of Wyoming in 2012 and 2013.
Andre Bolduc, Offensive assistant (2nd season with the Alouettes)
Bolduc, a former Head Coach with the Universite de Sherbrooke Vert et Or for five seasons from 2007 to 2011, returns to Montreal and to professional football as a coach for a second-straight year. He will help Anthony Calvillo with the receivers. After becoming the head coach of the Vert & Or in 2007, Bolduc led the team to its first playoff win in the school's history, as well as to the Dunsmore Cup final in 2010. The following season, he was named the Quebec Conference Coach of the Year after leading Sherbrooke to a 7-2 record. As a player, Bolduc played for the Ottawa Rough Riders and Edmonton Eskimos before landing in Montreal from 1998 to 2001, where he emerged as a leader and was named a special teams captain in 1999 and 2000.
Anwar Stewart, Defensive Quality Control Coach (2nd season with the Alouettes)
Following a stellar 13-year playing career in the CFL, former defensive end Anwar Stewart made his coaching debut in 2014 after being named the club's new defensive quality control coach. In the 2013 season, Stewart rejoined the Alouettes roster after making eight Grey Cup appearances with the club between 2002 and 2011, winning a trio of championships in 2002, 2009 and 2010. The 37-year-old spent 10 years in Montreal and sits in second place in the club's all-time record book for career quarterback sacks with 66. The CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2004, Stewart was also named a CFL All-Star in 2004 and 2009.
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Canadian Football League Stories from January 29, 2015
- O'Donnell Released - Edmonton Elks
- BC Lions Sign Free Agent Receiver Austin Collie - B.C. Lions
- Alouettes complete 2015 coaching staff - Montreal Alouettes
- Tiger-Cats Lock up Luke Tasker - Hamilton Tiger-Cats
- Blue Bombers Winter Caravan Coming to Rural Communities - Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- Blue Bombers Acquire 15th Overall Pick and Receiver Kristopher Bastien in trade with Riders - Winnipeg Blue Bombers
- Riders Acquire Receiver Cory Watson - Saskatchewan Roughriders
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