Roger Dunbrack

Roger Dunbrack (born October 8, 1975) is a football coach and a retired Canadian Football League player. He spent his 10-year career as a defensive lineman for the Toronto Argonauts, the now defunct Ottawa Renegades and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He has since coached football at the high school, university and professional level.

Roger Dunbrack
Image: 250 pixels
Dunbrack as the head coach of the Ancaster Royals
No. 73, 70, 78
Position:Defensive Line
Personal information
Born: (1975-10-08) October 8, 1975
Hamilton, Ontario
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
University:Western Ontario
CFL Draft:1998 / Round: 2 / Pick: 12
Career history
As a player:
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards
  • CIAU First-Team All-Canadian (1997)
Career CFL statistics
Tackles:146
Quarterback sacks:32
Interceptions:3

Football career

After playing high school football in grade 11, Dunbrack attended a tryout for the CJFL's Hamilton Hurricanes after accepting an invitation from his cousin on a whim.[1] He would later be honored as an inductee to the Hamilton Hurricanes Hall of Fame for his later success in the sport.[2]

Dunbrack attended the University of Western Ontario and played for the Western Mustangs for 4 years, wearing number 55. During his first year, the Mustangs won the 30th Vanier Cup in 1994 by defeating the Saskatchewan Huskies 50–40 in overtime.[3] Dunbrack was an OUA First-Team All-Star in 1996 and 1997, and he was named to the 1997 CIAU Football All-Canadian Team for the best football players in the CIS. He is now considered as "A Mustangs Legend".[4]

Dunbrack was drafted 12th over by the Toronto Argonauts in the 1998 CFL Draft. He was released from the Argonauts by departing Head Coach Don Matthews after his first season, but GM Eric Tillman suspected that Matthews had done this so he could sign him to the Edmonton Eskimos, so he subsequently resigned Dunbrack with the Argonauts.[5]

In week 15 of 2004, Dunbrack suffered a bicep injury against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, ending his season.

On March 16, 2005, Dunbrack signed a 2-year deal with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats [6]

CFL Statistics
Year Team Games Tackles Fumbles Interceptions
CombDefSTSackFFFRYdsPDIntYds
1998TOR 135231.0000100
1999TOR 15121205.0110000
2000TOR 18242139.0200100
2001TOR 17151323.0100000
2002TOR 18262602.00218210
2003OTT 17161602.0210100
2004OTT 14131215.0000212
2005HAM 18181710.0000000
2006HAM 117703.0000010
2007HAM 10101002.0010000
CFL Career1511461361032.06518732

[7][8]

Other Ventures

In 2001, Dunbrack appeared in the film The Sum of All Fears along with other Toronto Argonaut and Montreal Alouette players.

Following his retirement from the CFL, Dunbrack had coached several football camps, and also became a personal trainer under Phoenix Fitness Clubs in Stoney Creek.[9] Dunbrack also became a teacher, jumping from different schools under the HWDSB.

Coaching career

Following his retirement, Dunbrack was hired by the Tiger-Cats to be their Strength and Conditioning Coach.[10][11] In 2011, he joined the McMaster Marauders football program as the Defensive Line Coach under head coach Stefan Ptaszek, a former Argonauts teammate.[12][13] In his first year with the team, the Marauders won the 47th Vanier Cup by defeating Laval Rouge et Or 41–38 in double overtime. Coincidentally, Dunbrack has been a member of the only two teams to win the Vanier Cup in overtime, and both wins were accomplished in his first year with each team.

The championship photo of Dunbrack's first team as head coach

In the 2019 Spring season, Dunbrack worked as part of the coaching staff for the combined Delta/Sir John A. Macdonald high school football team. After the closing of Delta Secondary School and Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School, Dunbrack followed the subsequent student amalgamation to Bernie Custis Secondary School and became part of the coaching staff for their brand new football team.[14] Dunbrack also suggested a concept for safe contact practices which any junior football team under HWDSB could participate in. The concept was later enacted after multiple high school coaches collaborated to develop the idea.[15]

In 2021, Dunbrack became the head coach for the Ancaster High Royals football team, who hadn't run their football program since 2017. Dunbrack and his coaching staff privately decided not to cut any players due to the expectancy of a low student turnout. To their surprise, more than 60 different students showed up to the tryouts, with 55 players ultimately getting jersey numbers assigned on the team roster.[16] In the team's first season back, the Royals won the Chayka Bowl against the Glendale Bears, claiming the Division II championship.

References
  1. "Player turned coach, Roger Dunbrack gives back to the game".
  2. "CJFL Hurricanes Hall of Fame".
  3. Tsumura, Howard. "Vanier Cup Countdown: 1994 Mustangs vs. Huskies at SkyDome". Postmedia Network Inc. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
  4. "Roger Dunbrack "A Mustangs Legend" Western Mustangs".
  5. "Top 10 CFL feuds: Eric Tillman vs Don Matthews".
  6. "Ticats give Dunbrack 2-year deal".
  7. "Roger Dunbrack Stats".
  8. "Roger Dunbrack football stats".
  9. "Roger Dunbrack". Retrieved 2012-01-28.
  10. "Ticats Training Camp-Day 3".
  11. "Adams tackling a different role".
  12. "Part Time Assistant Football Coaches".
  13. "2012 Football Coaches and Staff".
  14. "John A. and Delta kids used to be rivals. What's happening at Bernie Custis?".
  15. "Teaching safe contact and football skills to high school junior players".
  16. "Former Tiger-Cat brings Ancaster High back from the dead".


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