2008 DESJARDINS VANIER CUP: MEET THE COACHES
Glen Constantin of the Laval Rouge et Or and Greg Marshall from the Western Mustangs took turns praising each other's programs.
"We're excited to play Western," admitted Constantin. "It's probably one of the best athletic programs in the country. It's led by a very good football coach and a very good friend of mine. He's a very tough and aggressive competitor. I think he'll say the same thing about me."
"Glen has been a very good friend of mine for a long time," added Marshall. "The football program at Laval is the top program in the country. They have raised the bar. Because of that, they have made every other program raise their level in order to compete. You either compete, or you fall off. It's made Canadian college football better because of what they have done."
Marshall is no stranger to these parts, having been a head coach at both McMaster University and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL. Marshall is relishing in the excitement of coaching in his first Vanier Cup on familiar turf.
"It is great to be back in Hamilton," said Marshall. "I spent a lot of years here. As the coach of McMaster and the coach of the Tiger-Cats, there are a lot of great supporters here, great friends. It's kind of a homecoming for me and I'm looking forward to getting reacquainted with all the good football people. Football in Hamilton; the Steel City. Football is an important part of it."
This is the first official meeting between these two schools on the gridiron, but unofficially the Mustangs have played the Rouge et Or twice in the past two pre-seasons in exhibition games. It is only fitting that the two teams which began their 2008 journey together will end it together in the pinnacle game in Canadian university football.
"We had Western in the pre-season and had a great weekend of practicing together," said Constantin. "That's what I told both teams; hopefully you'll do your part, and we do our part, and hopefully we can meet up here."
"We have a ton of respect for the University of Laval," added Marshall. "We're looking for a great game. We played against them, we know what they're like. We know they'll play hard. We're looking forward to a great game on Saturday
afternoon."
As a result of their pre-season meetings the past two years, there won't be a lot of surprises come Saturday afternoon.
"If you believe in your systems, you're not going to change from that," explained Marshall. "You're going to adapt and evolve a little bit, but you can't change who you are or what your identity
is and what you do well. I think both teams will still be what we were in that pre-season game."
"What we really notice from film study is that the execution got a lot better for Western which is normal," admitted Constantin. "When they played us it was the first week of (training) camp, and it pops out at you in film that they have progressed and their execution got a lot better."
Constantin, who is familiar with coaching on the grand stage with three Vanier Cup championships to his credit, knows that the No. 1 goal is for the players to enjoy everything the week has to offer.
"It's a great experience for the kids," said Constantin. "You have to make sure you take as many memories and seize the moment, because those are the things you are going to remember pretty much all of your life. Just make sure you seize the moment and have fun throughout the week."