Football Canada announces incoming Junior National Team coaching staff

Group to lead defending champs into 2018 IFAF U19 World Championship

Photo credit: USA Football

Football Canada has named five to its Junior National Team coaching staff which will guide Canada into the 2018 IFAF U19 World Championship, including the 2017 and 2018 International Bowls.  Coaches Jamie Barresi (quarterbacks), Gordon Beattie (offensive line), Bryan Brandford (linebackers), Jeff Cummins (special teams), and Sébastien Tétreault (defensive line) join head coach Steve Sumarah along with respective defensive and offensive coordinators Glen Constantin and Jean-Philippe Asselin.

“We received strong interest from coaches across the country and I want to thank everyone for their interest in becoming a part of this program,” said incoming head coach Steve Sumarah. “The coaches named to the staff today compliment the junior national team program heading into 2018.”

Canada is the tournament’s defending champion after defeating Team USA 24-6 in the 2016 gold medal game in Harbin, China.

“This coaching staff will have a tough act to follow, but this group has tremendous experience and over the next two years will continue to work to develop the national team program and prepare to defend Canada’s title in 2018.”

Canada and the U.S. have faced one another in each of the first four tournament finals.

With a victory in the latest installment, Canada has evened up its U19 World Championship finals record at two wins and two losses. Canada previous captured gold at the 2012 worlds in Austin, Texas to go along with a pair of silver medals from the inaugural 2009 event in Canton, Ohio as well as the 2014 edition in Kuwait.

2018 Junior National Team Coaching Staff

Coaching staff biographies

Jeff Cummins – Special Teams Coordinator

Cummins returns to the national team after helping Canada to silver at the inaugural 2009 IFAF U19 World Championship in Canton, Ohio as an assistant coach. He also helped Canada’s Senior (Men’s) National Team to silver at the 2011 Senior World Championship in Austria.

Head coach at Acadia University since 2003, Cummins has worn multiple hats over the years, coordinating the Axemen offense, defense and specials teams. He’s experienced tremendous success leading Acadia to conference championships in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2012. He was recognized for his efforts as the CIS National Coach of the Year in 2011 and is also a four-time Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year.

Cummins pairs his international tournament experience with NCAA playing experience from his time at the University of Oregon (1990-92) where he earned second-team all-Pac-10 honours. After attending NFL training camps with the LA Rams and Cleveland Browns, he found a home in the CFL playing with Las Vegas (1994), Toronto (1995), Ottawa (1996), and Hamilton (1998-2000) before turning his focus towards coaching.

Jamie Barresi – Quarterbacks

Barresi, currently the head coach at the University of Ottawa, brings 20 years of NCAA Division I coaching experience and nine more in the CFL to the national team. During his two decades in college football he coached in seven bowl games including the Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, and Holiday Bowl.

Following three years with the Gee-Gees, his college coaching career took off after serving as a graduate assistant coach at Penn State University during the program’s 1986 Orange Bowl appearance against eventual national champion, Oklahoma. He’d return to Penn State as a position coach in 1988 and later go on to Wake Forest and Central Florida before returning to Canada in 2004 to serve as offensive coordinator with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.  From 2004 through 2012, he also coached on the offensive side of the ball with the BC Lions (2006-07), Saskatchewan Roughriders (2008-09), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2010-11) and Edmonton Eskimos (2012). His CFL coaching resume includes one Grey Cup victory in three appearances.

A quarterback with the 1976 national semi-finalist Gee-Gees, Barresi earned his undergraduate degrees from uOttawa in Kinanthropology in 1980, and Education in 1982. He also holds a Master of Science degree from Penn State and a Master of Arts degree in Sport Administration from the University of Florida. Finally, Barresi completed his doctorate in exercise and sports science from Penn State in 1992, specializing in motor learning and control.

Gordon Beattie – Offensive Line

A veteran coach with over 25 years of experience at all levels of football, Beattie returns to the national team after serving as an apprentice coach at the 2016 International Bowl in Arlington, Texas.

A longtime university coach, Beattie most recently coached offensive line and served as run game coordinator at Citadel High School in Halifax, helping the program to back-to-back provincial championships in 2014 and 2015.

Beattie began coaching offensive line at the university level with his alma mater, St. Francis Xavier, in 1993. Gord returned to the StFX coaching staff in 1996, helping the X-Men capture an Atlantic conference championship, and berth in the Vanier Cup following an Atlantic Bowl victory.

He next joined the St. Mary’s coaching staff prior to the start of the 1998 season, where he stayed until March 2012 with the exception of the 2004 and 2005 seasons. His tenure in Halifax included two Vanier Cup victories ( 2001 and 2003) in five appearances.

Beattie also previously coached at the provincial level, serving as offensive line coach with Nova Scotia’s provincial team in 1994, returning to the Canada Cup from 1998 to 1999 as offensive coordinator.

Bryan Brandford – Linebackers

Currently a high school principle in the Alberta Foothills-area, Brandford has a broad spectrum of coaching experience. He recently led Alberta to three gold medal game appearances in five years as the wildrose province’s head coach at the Football Canada Cup from 2011-2015. He also served as defensive coordinator with Canada’s U18 national team in its inaugural International Bowl appearance in 2014.

Following a four-year playing career as a linebacker at the University of Calgary, which included a 1983 Vanier Cup victory, he began coaching his former position (1985-1989) followed by defensive line (1995-97). His coaching career with the Dinos included three additional Vanier Cup victories (1985, 1988 and 1995) under legendary head coach Peter Connellan. In between his years on the sidelines at his alma mater, he coached at the junior level with the Calgary Colts, serving as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach from 1990-93.

Brandford has also been heavily involved with high school football over the years. He most recently coached linebackers at Foothills Composite from 2013-2015 in addition to serving as head coach at Highwood (2002-2007) and Oilfields (1990-2007). He captured three league championships with the Highwood Mustangs and two provincial championships with the Oilfield Drillers.

Sébastien Tétreault – Defensive Line

Sébastien Tétreault brings the experience of playing for Canada at the 2006 NFL Global Junior Championship, a pre-decessor to the IFAF U19 World Championship, to the Junior National Team coaching staff. Tétreault comes full-circle in his football career as he reunites with defensive coordinator Glen Constantin for whom he also played in 2006, while earning tournament all-star accolades at defensive end.

In 2016, he enters his third year as head coach of the Cégep de l’Outaouais Griffons as the Gatineau-based school begins its inaugural season in collegial division II after receiving a promotion from division III in the off-season. Tétreault initially joined the Griffons coaching staff in 2011 as a defensive line coach before adding the defensive coordinator duties from 2012-2014.

Prior to entering coaching, Tétreault enjoyed a five-year playing career (2006-2010) as a defensive lineman at the University of Ottawa. His tenure included three all-Canadian and four OUA all-star team nominations.

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