Dinos new football coach

A new era began yesterday for the University of Calgary Dinos football program. Blake Nill was officially announced as Calgary's new head coach and the former Dinos player made it clear he plans on taking the school back to its Vanier Cup-winning hey-day of the 1980s and early '90s.
"I want to make this program a national contender year after year ... but it's a long process and it'll take some time," said the hulking 44-year-old from Hanna, who becomes the fifth football coach in school history. "The number one thing we've got to do is stop our blue-chip athletes from leaving and going to some other conference rival."
Nill is well aware of the talent pool in Alberta but he's not afraid to recruit from coast-to-coast or south of the border. "I'm used to recruiting a kid here, a kid there, throughout Canada and the U.S. I've never had a pool of talent like the Alberta pool," said Nill, who resigned Monday as St. Mary's head coach after winning two Vanier Cups with the Huskies in eight years. So Nill, who played with the Dinos from 1980-83 before turning pro in the CFL, knows there's talent to be found as he takes over a floundering program that hasn't won a playoff game since capturing the Vanier Cup in 1995.
When Nill joined the Huskies in 1998, he inherited a 1-7 team and went 4-4 that year, then had his squad in the Vanier Cup the following season. The players are looking forward to the change after Tony Fasano was fired in January following a 2-6 campaign in 2005 -- the worst in school history.
"I know a lot of the guys are excited and we've actually got a couple of guys on the team that played for him before," said veteran offensive lineman Evan Haney. "We're all excited to see what he brings to the table and we know he's a demanding coach." Nill has no problem saying that's exactly the case. "I'm demanding with the players but I think I'm an intelligent coach and I don't over-do it," said Nill, adding he plans on working closely with the Calgary Colts junior team and the local high schools. "I require a lot from my players the moment they decide they want to come here. I want this to be their number one priority, just below their academics."