In an effort to restore luster to a football program that has been in decline for too long, McGill University's athletic department has launched an internal review conducted by an outside firm and funded by the father of two Redbirds players.
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And unlike in 2012, when athletic director Drew Love asked to join the ranks of the Ontario Conference in 2013 in hopes of returning to success, this time McGill wants its rebirth to come via the RSEQ.
“It is an additional challenge to compete with such established programs, but we also have to see it as an advantage,” emphasizes the director of the excellence program for the Redbirds and the Martlets, Daniel Méthot. We do not plan to change conferences, nor do we plan to insert the key into the door. We want to get the program back on a solid track. We no longer just want to participate and fight hard for fourth place out of five teams. It is not acceptable. We couldn't ignore that our program was fragile.
Courtesy of Matt Garies McGill Athletics
The Redbirds' last winning season dates back to 2002, when they lost to the Saskatchewan Huskies in the Mitchell Cup. They have missed the playoffs seven times in the last 10 seasons and 13 times in 18 years.
A timely donor
Louis Pilon's appearance comes at the right time. Mr. Pilon, president and CEO of JAMP Pharma, a Boucherville-based company that is Quebec's third-largest manufacturer of generic drugs, wants to provide the best possible experience for his two sons and other young people who choose the Redbirds.
“We would have carried out an assessment, but without Mr. Pilon's generous donation things would have been different,” admits Méthot, who has been in office for just over a year. He wants to provide the best experience for his sons (Thomas and Mathis) and for all young people who choose McGill.
Views from outside
The Celsius Group's mission is to turn over all the stones to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the football program. “There were meetings internally, externally and with some of our competitors,” explains Méthot. The Celsius group has a free hand and will examine our program closely. Outsiders can analyze the program from a different perspective. We are committed to sharing the positive data collected with the other teams. It is important that the five RSEQ teams are healthy.”
The results of the exam will be announced at the end of March. McGill speaks of a three to five year reconstruction plan.
Interest among alumni
The director of the McGill Excellence Program assures that the institution's graduates are just waiting for the signal to get behind the wheel. “It wasn’t just Mr. Pilon who came forward. Some alumni have raised their hand and want to get involved, but they want to do it as part of a legitimate program. After 150 years of football at McGill, this is a unique situation, but we need to reconnect with our alumni. It is not normal for the men's ice hockey team with a roster of 25 players to receive more support than the soccer team with 100 players. We have reconstruction work to do with the elders.”