EDMONTON – Peter Connellan can add another hall of fame to his incredible university football resume, as the former Calgary Dinos head coach has been inducted into the Canada West Hall of Fame.
Connellan – who is a member of the Dinos Hall of Fame, Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, and Canadian Football Hall of Fame – enters the conference Hall of Fame a day after Dennis Kadatz, who was Calgary's first football head coach and longtime athletic director.
Over the course of his time leading the Dinos Connellan guided the program to great heights, winning eight Hardy Cups (1977, 83-85, 88, 92-93, 95) and four Vanier Cups (1983, 85, 88, 95).
In his 13 seasons as head coach, he guided his team to 10 Hardy Cup appearances and compiled an overall postseason record of 16-6.
NAME: Peter Connellan
UNIVERSITY: Calgary
CATEGORY: Coach
SPORT: Football
YEARS ACTIVE: 1977, 1983-1995, 2004-2005
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Four-time Vanier Cup champion
- Eight-time WIFL/Canada West football champion
- Received the Frank Tindall Trophy as CIAU football coach of the year in 1977 and 1985
- Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductee (2012)
BIOGRAPHY:
Few coaches in any sport at any level experienced the success that Peter Connellan enjoyed with the Calgary Dinos football program.
During Connellan's tenure with the Dinos his teams won eight Hardy Cups and he became the first head coach to win four Vanier Cups.
In his 13 seasons at the helm, Connellan's Dinos reached the conference playoffs 10 times – in an era where only the top two teams reached the post-season – won eight Hardy Cups (1977, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1992, 1993, and 1995), and made five Vanier Cup appearances, winning four times (1983, 1985, 1988, 1995).
