Neil began his journey with the Guelph Gryphons Football team as a guest coach for the running backs in 2010 and now moves into his third official season as RB coach with the Gryphon Family. Neil’s past makes him a great mentor to the players. He started his career at the University of Ottawa as a running back & kicker where he was a 4 time OUA All-Star & 3 time All Canadian. He then moved on to his storied football career in the Canadian Football League, playing from 1976 until 1985 with the Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Edmonton Eskimos. In 1976 he was the Eastern Conference nominee for Most Outstanding Rookie & a CFL Eastern All Star. Neil won 3 Grey Cups as a player with the Eskimos and his 4th ring as the GM & Director of Business Operations of the 1999 Tiger-Cats. During 2001 to 2004 Neil was a regional scout for the Edmonton Eskimos while coaching Sr high school football in Burlington. Neil is a member of the University of Ottawa Hall of Fame, the OUA Hall of Fame & the City of Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame and in 2013 was awarded the Champion of Sport by the Sport Alliance in Burlington. Neil has coached football for over 30 years at all levels and most recently was the head coach of the Burlington Varsity Stampeders winning OFC championships in 2008 & 2010 and in 2011 was the head coach of the Burlington Braves in the CJFL before joining the Gryphon football staff. Neil is very confident this year’s core of RB talent & is excited about the 2014 season.
Neil is also honored to be a member of the 2014 class that is being inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in September.
On the personal side Neil and his wife Donna live in Burlington and have a daughter Kristin who lives and works in Toronto as a makeup artist and son Jesse who lives in Calgary and was a member of 2014 Canadian Olympic Bobsled team competing in his second Olympics in Russia.
