Brian Dobie announces retirement at the conclusion of the 2024 football season
Head coach of the Bisons Football season announces his leave after 29 seasons
Brian Dobie, Head Coach of the Manitoba Bisons Football team, announced today he will retire after the end of the 2024 season.
2024 will mark Dobie’s 29th and final season as Head Coach of the Bisons Football program and his 50th season coaching. He previously guided the Churchill High School football program for 21 years.
“This was my dream job, a position that I’d wanted my whole adult and professional life,” says Dobie. “The Bison Football program has become our family, a family that my wife and I have embraced, loved and cherished and a home where our daughter grew up.”
Dobie says his greatest joy over the past fifty years “has been working alongside the thousands of players that I had the absolute honour to share this wonderful lifelong experience with. How fortunate I’ve been to go to work every day surrounded by a hundred young student-athletes who are motivated, driven and enthusiastic as they pursue their academic and athletic goals.”
Gene Muller, Director of Athletics and Recreation, says, “Brian Dobie has been the heartbeat of Bison Football for decades. His energy and infectious enthusiasm have inspired our student-athletes, staff and the University of Manitoba community. His unwavering love for the program and genuine care for ‘his guys’ have left an indelible mark on the Bison football program. We are deeply grateful for his dedication and leadership over the years.”
Muller adds Dobie has achieved “legendary Bisons status.”
Dobie says he is excited to spend this next chapter with his wife Jackie, who has been “the person who has always been there through the tough times and the best times. She has been the anchor for our family and we are both so looking forward to sharing our next adventures.”
Dobie is currently the winningest coach in Bisons’ football history. He has won Canada West Coach of the Year awards five (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006) and a U SPORTS Coach of the Year in 2001. Dobie was inducted into the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association Hall of Fame Class of 2015 as a Builder (Churchill High School Football).
As of the 2024 season, Dobie has coached 63 student-athletes drafted by CFL teams and two athletes by NFL teams.
The 2024 U Sports football regular season will conclude on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Muller says the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management will initiate its formal search and recruitment process in September. Muller says their goal is for a new head coach to begin in December.