City-born Stamps’ coach has wealth of memories of ‘cool’ Edmonton stadium
Marc Mueller’s fond memories of Commonwealth Stadium were created long before Sunday ’s Grey Cup game.
The Regina-born Mueller — the Calgary Stampeders’ running backs coach — spent a great deal of time at the stadium while his grandfather, CFL legend Ron Lancaster, was the Edmonton Eskimos’ head coach.
“My first memories of football are of that locker-room,” said Mueller, who is celebrating Sunday’s 27-16 championship-game victory over the Ottawa Redblacks.
“Grandpa took over the team as the head coach in 1991 and I was only two years old then. My first memories of football are playing catch with those Yellow Page footballs, or whatever they are called now, with (Eskimos equipment manager) Dwayne Mandrusiak’s sons.
“All three of them were there (for the Grey Cup) because they were helping out. I know it probably killed them for the Calgary Stampeders to win in their locker-room.
“It was a really special moment for me to be in the place where I grew up and I really started to enjoy and love football. There were a lot of great memories running around with my grandpa or Gizmo Williams or Hugh Campbell. It was a culmination of things, but it was a really cool moment to come back to where it started for me as a football fan.”
Lancaster was Edmonton’s head coach from 1991 to 1997, winning a Grey Cup in 1993.
The former Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback and head coach guided the Eskimos to a 33-23 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 81st Grey Cup game, held in Calgary. Twenty-five years later, the Stampeders travelled to Edmonton and won their eighth Grey Cup.
Photos of the Eskimos’ legends adorn the walls of the team’s clubhouse at Commonwealth Stadium. Mueller made sure that he had a photo taken of him standing by a picture of his grandfather.
“It’s such a cool place where my grandpa had a lot of history and good memories and left his footprint,” Mueller said.
Speaking of footprints, Sunday’s Grey Cup game has been overshadowed by the field conditions that had both teams slipping and sliding.
“(The conditions) were a concern, but once the game started it was the same for both teams,” Mueller said. “The team that handled it the best would be a part of them controlling the game.”
Mueller’s parents (Larry and Lana), his wife (Jenaya) and Jenaya’s parents (Carmen and Judy Giblett) were all at Sunday’s Grey Cup game.
“It was pretty cool that they all got to enjoy the experience of the Grey Cup because they are all a big part of it as well,” Marc Mueller said. “We’re all part of the victory because there are lots of time when I’m not around. There is a lot of sacrifice and they are all part of that.”
Mueller joined the Stampeders’ staff in 2014 after starring as a quarterback with the University of Regina Rams.
He spent a year as a defensive assistant before being promoted to Calgary’s running backs coach. He shared in Calgary’s 20-16 win over the Hamilton Tiger-cats in the 2014 Grey Cup game. He then endured losses in the 2016 and 2017 Grey Cup games before experiencing Sunday’s victory.