Huskies staff relishes its first victory
Golden Bears loom, but winning already a habit
Scott Flory doesn’t want to make a really big deal of it.
The University of Saskatchewan Huskies’ new football head coach is officially 1-0 lifetime, with a Gatorade shower to show for that effort. He takes a perfect record into the team’s Friday-night home opener against the Alberta Golden Bears.
“At some point, I assumed we were going to win a football game,” Flory said Tuesday in deadpan fashion when asked during a conference call about his first career victory — Friday’s 44-23 thumping of the Manitoba Bisons.
“Don’t get me wrong; we want to win everything we do, and that’s been our mantra around here. If we’re playing crib in the lockerroom, guys want to win. That’s just part of the deal, and the understanding we have.”
Flory, who moved from offensive co-ordinator to head coach during the off-season, made wholesale changes to his coaching staff before moving into the 2017 campaign.
It’s left the Huskies something of a mystery team, which is why that victory over Manitoba was more than just another win. Saskatchewan led 27-6 at halftime, but the Bisons cut the gap to 27-23 with two touchdowns and a long field goal.
The Huskies — both players and coaches — kept their wits, and rather than collapsing, they dominated the fourth quarter. It was one small growth point in Flory’s evolution as a head coach.
“They were late coming out at the half,” Flory says of the Bisons. “I’m sure coach (Brian) Dobie was addressing them, and you saw that when they came out. They were ready to go. They had more intensity at the start of the third quarter than we had. After that second touchdown, I pulled the whole team aside on the sidelines and told them to breathe. It was ... listen; we have this capability, we have it within us. It’s time to take a stand and to wash away all those mistakes. Because there was a couple mistakes, and it was a chance for them to collect their thoughts, take a deep breath. The guys took the game back.”
As the contest neared its end point, Flory saw quarterback Kyle Siemens slide up beside him, and he knew exactly what was going to happen. Flory dumped a few coolers of Gatorade on coaches during his own playing days with the Montreal Alouettes, so he made just one request of Siemens: Let him take off his headset, to protect the electronics.
He’s learning fast, is Flory, as the Huskies prepare to host the 0-1 Golden Bears.
He admits that he spent the first half of the team’s recent pre-season game against McMaster “trying to find my place as the head coach.”
He felt better in the second half, and even better on Friday. Now he’s heading back to Griffiths Stadium for his first home game as the team’s head coach. He’s been there as a player and as an assistant, but on Friday at 7 p.m., he’ll be the man in command, surrounded by hometown fans.
“I’m sure I’ll have a chance to reflect after the game,” Flory said. “I approach coaching no different than as a player: Being prepared, and being focused. I’ll worry about all the other things after the game.”