The BC Junior Football Conference has seen half of its teams turn over head coaches this offseason, including its crown-jewel franchise.
Brian Ridgeway is the new bench boss for the Vancouver Island Raiders, replacing Matt Snoop Blokker. Blokker won seven BCFC Cullen Cups and three Canadian Bowl title and is the all-time winningest coach in BCFC history. He departs with a record of 111-19-2, including 16 playoff wins.
Ridgeway has massive shoes to fill.
The 29 year old is fresh out of the pro ranks, where he played three years with the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes. Ridgeway played for the Raiders during their 2006 championship season, earned All-Canadian honours at linebacker.
After leaving the BCFC he played one year with the CIS St. Mary's Huskies and three with the Simon Fraser Clansmen.
“I am so happy we got this guy for the job,” said Raider president Chris Cross. “He is an alumni with an amazing pedigree of winning at all levels. We are excited for the professionalism he will bring to our team coming straight out of the CFL, and for the passion that this young man is full of.”
Meanwhile, the Langley Rams brought back a familiar face in ex-Husker Jeff Alamolhoda, who guided the Rams to a back to back BCFC title games. His team won the BCFC championship in 2012 and fell to the Saskatoon Hilltops in a thrilling Canadian final.
Job commitments forced him to step aside, but now he's back.
In Victoria, the Westshore Rebels have been searching for a new head coach to replace Tim Kearse. A man whose coaching resume includes time in the Canadian Football League with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Montreal Alouettes, Kearse stepped in on an interim basis to replace John Cardillicia
prior to last season.
Cardillicia resigned due to 'personal reasons' before coaching a single game for the Rebels.