There isn’t much Huskies football head coach Brian Towriss hasn’t seen. The 2014 season will be his 31st year at the helm of one of the strongest football programs in the country.

Towriss began his coaching career back in 1980 as an assistant coach for the Huskies under then head coach Val Schneider. After four short years he was named the head coach of the team and the rest, as they say, is history.

Since taking over in 1984, Towriss has won three Vanier Cup championships, 11 Hardy Cup titles and has nine Vanier Cup appearances, which is the most in Canadian Iinteruniversity Sport history. He is also a seven-time winner of the Canada West coach of the year award and in 1994 was named the CIS coach of the year.

On top of all that, in 2011 Towriss notched his 170th victory as a head coach. That victory would make him the winningest coach in CIS history.

“The finest memories revolve around the three Vanier Cup championships,” Towriss said in an e-mail to the Sheaf. “The toughest memories were the ones where we were so close and didn’t quite get the job done. Especially in 2006 versus Laval in Saskatoon.”

Despite a great overall record, the Huskies have lost in the Canada West semifinals in six of the past seven seasons — and that isn’t sitting well with Towriss.

“We will strive to finish as one of the top two teams in the conference and battle for the Hardy Cup,” Towriss said. “Our goal is to return to national prominence.”

One of the things that separate Towriss from other coaches is his preparation.The best coaches are the ones that are prepared and that’s something starting quarterback Drew Burko can attest to.

It’s “just how smart he is when it comes to football,” Burko said. “He’s been doing this for 30 plus years, so he knows a lot about what’s going on.”

Born in Moose Jaw, Towriss played his own CIS football at the University of Saskatchewan. From 1974-77 Towriss was a defensive lineman with the Huskies and in 1974 he was named a conference all-star.

Being with the U of S for over 30 years, Towriss has brought stability to the football program and helped turn them into the national contenders they are today. Even with that, Towriss hasn’t given retirement much thought.

“The day of retirement is coming, [I’m] not sure when, but I am still having fun working hard and coming to work everyday,” he said.

Towriss’ favourite thing about being head coach is simply the people that he gets to work with everyday.

“I have always said the best thing about my job is coming to work everyday to be with 15 great coaches who give so much to this program and working with 85 highly motivated, intelligent young men.”

Catch a first look at Towriss and the Huskies on Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. when they host the University of Manitoba Bisons in the homecoming game.