St. Albert football coach Randy Guy will huddle up with former teammates with the University of Calgary Dinos at the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremonies May 28.
The 1983-85 Dinos are only the second university team to be enshrined, joining the 1994-2000 University of Alberta women’s volleyball squad.
“It’s a great honour. A big thrill,” said Guy, a pass-catching machine with three-straight Hardy Cup championship teams and the 1983 and 1985 Vanier Cup champion Dinos. “It was a pleasant surprise when the sports hall of fame accepted the nomination.”
Guy, 47, is among 20 Dinos who played on all three teams and was one of only six starters during that three-year era. From those teams, 20 players went on to play in the CFL.
“We had some terrific players and some terrific coaches,” said Guy, a member of the Dinos Fifth Quarter Alumni Association. “We’ve had 20-year reunion parties for the 1983 win and the 1985 win, so we’ve kept pretty close together.”
Under head coach Peter Connellan, the Dinos posted a 19-5 record in the regular season and outscored their opponents 106-41 in the three conference championships.
Led by quarterback Greg Vavra, the first Dino in history to win the Hec Crighton Trophy as the national MVP in 1983, the Dinos celebrated their first Vanier Cup in school history.
“It was a special team. We had gone 2-6 the year before with essentially the same group of guys but with the new coaching staff and a whole bunch of offseason attention to working together and becoming better we managed to then go 6-2 the next year and we won the first Vanier Cup,” said Guy, who played five years for the Dinos while completing his economics degree.
The lanky Dino was a deceptive wide receiver in 1983 before switching to slotback.
“We had a great combination of big guys inside and some speed on the outside. I was one of the guys on the outside in those years, but as I got bigger and as I matured as a kid I moved into the inside and played the last couple of years there.”
Guy’s best season statistically was Vavra’s last stint with the Dinos in 1983.
“He threw the ball very hard. It was difficult to catch,” he said. “In 1983 we lost our first two games and we were concerned we were going right back to what happened in 1982. But in that third game we played against the University of Saskatchewan and Greg threw for over 600 yards and set a North American football record at the time for completions, attempts and yardage in a game at any level. That got us going in the right direction.”
In the Vanier Cup at Varsity Stadium in Toronto, Vavra passed for 307 yards and two touchdowns in the 31-21 win over the Queen’s Golden Gaels. He also booted a Vanier Cup record five field goals.
“We were a passing team offset by the running game and we were dominant in that regard. Playing on turf we were a very fast team,” Guy said.
After dropping a 12-7 decision in the Central Bowl against Guelph in 1984 following a 7-1 regular season, the Dinos wrapped up one of the most dominant post-seasons in CIS history with a 25-6 win over the Western Mustangs for their second Vanier Cup in three years. In the 1985 post-season, the Dinos outscored their opponents by a whopping 133-33 margin.
The legacy the Dinos left for future players to achieve was two-fold, according to Guy.
“University football is very big on tradition so for those kids to look back at that first Vanier Cup win for the school is very important and there have been a couple of chances for the school to build on that tradition,” he said. “But most importantly, it’s the ongoing participation of those team members in minor football in the province. I think there are eight head coaches in high schools in Calgary that came off those teams and there are a whole bunch of people still coaching minor football, so that’s probably our biggest legacy.”
The last four years Guy coached teams his sons Brendan and Connor played for in the St. Albert Minor Football Association.
“I’m loving it. Getting out coaching kids is a great way to give back to the game that had given so much to me,” said the head coach of the 2009 peewee Riders.
Guy started playing football in Calgary and won a couple of city championships with the bantam Colts.
“Back in those days we didn’t have 12-man tackle like we do now for kids so I played flag until I got to bantam age.”
He moved on to Dr. E.P. Scarlett High School and in Grade 10 the Lancers won the junior city title. In his Grade 11 season they lost the senior championship to the archrival St. Francis Browns but in Grade 12 were victorious in the final.
“I had a fun time playing football.”
