Dan Falloon
Former Muskie football MVP Chad Canfield is ready to give back.
The new head coach of the black-and-gold’s gridiron gang said he’s looking to repay the community that helped him grow as a player.
“I think it’s a great opportunity and a chance to give back to the program I was involved in so much in high school,” Canfield noted.
Canfield said outgoing head coach Andrew George supplied him with a list of players who will be returning in 2010—and those players look promising.
“I was really happy when I looked it over,” he remarked. “I think we have a good foundation coming back.”
The first order of business for Canfield is simply getting numbers out to create depth on the roster. The Muskies had to forfeit a game to the River East Kodiaks back in September because several players were injured.
“What we really need to do is get more players out,” he stressed. “What I plan to do with that is using some of the guys I have in the high school to get some names of kids that I think could benefit the program.
“And I’ll probably contact them directly and see if they’re interested in giving it a shot.”
Canfield noted there is interest in the sport here in Fort Frances but he’s still going to do more to increase it.
“What we really need to do is generate a lot more interest in football than there has been in the past couple years,” he remarked.
“We’ll probably do some things in the summer like start up flag football on weekends, or something along those lines, in order to generate a little bit more interest for the fall.”
Several key cogs of the 2009 squad will be graduating this June, including quarterback Dan Brunetta, along with Andre Valenzuela, Tyler Abma, Donny Krishka, and Britt Green.
But returning players like Brad McDonald, Cody Hunsperger, Cody Bodnar, and Lucas Hudson will be expected to step up next year.
Still, there are plenty of holes to be plugged before more specific strategizing can begin for the upcoming season.
“I think we’ll probably need to assess the people that we have out before we come up with some sort of game plan,” said Canfield.
“With the loss of Dan [Brunetta], who was our starting quarterback, I don’t have any idea of who we have to replace him,” he admitted.
“I didn’t work with the quarterbacks a lot last year.
“Obviously, quarterback’s one of the most important positions on the field, so once we have an idea of who can fill that spot, we’ll come up with a strategy in order to move the football,” Canfield added.
“But it’s difficult to say what kind of offence you’re going to run—or defence, for that matter—until you know the kind of people that you have out there.”
Canfield worked mainly with the linebackers and running backs last season, and said those positions represent two of the major holes the Muskies have to fill going into the 2010 season in the WHSFL.
“Linebackers and running backs, they’re both cut from the same mould, and those are the people that we’re really missing,” Canfield stressed.
“Those are the kinds of people that I’ll really be looking for in the high school.”
The 2009 campaign, in which Fort High went 0-7 (including the one forfeit) was Canfield’s first year coaching with the team as he recently moved back here from Dryden to work at the Northern Lights Credit Union.
“Thankfully, the credit union has provided me with this opportunity allowing me to work some flexible hours, so it gives me the opportunity to be out there more than I was last year, which I’m looking forward to,” he remarked.
Canfield added any coaches interested in getting involved with the team can contact him directly.
“I’m going to be contacting some of the people that I used to play football with, that are still in the area, but if anyone’s interested in coaching football, we could always use more help,” he said.
