U of M Bisons football head coach to retire

The man behind the University of Manitoba Bisons football program for nearly 30 years will be calling it a career at the end of this season.

On Monday, the university announced Brian Dobie will be retiring at the end of the season following 50 years of coaching football in Winnipeg.

"I do not want to leave this team and this football program. I do not want to leave, but I want to retire," Dobie said in an interview with CTV News Winnipeg. "I feel though, it's time for somebody else to have this incredible opportunity that I've had. It's time to pass it one."

This season will be Dobie's 29th season as head coach with the Bisons. Before joining the university, he coached for 21 years at Churchill High School.

He said at this point in life, he owes it to his wife to spend some more time with her.

"My wife and I have been together since we were in high school. I mean that girl has waited for 50 years, waited every night for me to come home. While we still have lots of energy, I think it’s time that we have some us time."

Since joining the U of M in 1996, Dobie has been named the Canada West Coach of the Year five times and won the U Sports Coach of the Year in 2001.

He helped lead the Bisons to a Vanier Cup in 2007 and was inducted into the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2015.

Dobie is also the winningest coach in Bisons' history.

While looking back at the career that was, Dobie said one of the biggest standouts to him was the 2001 season and playing in the national semi-final against McMaster University – with a spot in the Vanier Cup on the line.

"Our quarterback Shane Munson, the game was tied through the fourth quarter, and Shane ran a quarterback draw from midfield and he took it 54 yards to the house. That changed the game. We exploded from there, won the game and went to our first Vanier Cup appearance, and that forever, that moment, affected change in our program.”

Of the players to be part of Dobie's teams, 63 have been drafted by CFL teams and another two were drafted into the NFL.

While he loves seeing so many players succeed at the highest levels, Dobie said his football program was about so much more than just the game.

"We've put a lot of people into pro football. That's not what we're here for. That's a by-product of it. To put a lot of people out into life and into communities and be great partners and great dads, and whatever area they go into, to me, that's what this is all about."

Gene Muller, the director of athletics and recreation, said the school is so grateful for everything Dobie has done over the years.

"Brian Dobie has been the heartbeat of Bison Football for decades. His energy and infectious enthusiasm have inspired our student-athletes, staff, and the University of Manitoba community," he said in a news release.

The regular season for U Sports comes to an end Oct. 26.

Muller said the school will start looking for a new coach in September, with a goal to have a new person in the role in December.