It sure didn’t take long for Steve Sumarah to renew the rivalry between the Carleton Ravens and University of Ottawa Gee-Gees football teams.
In one of his first big moves as head coach, Sumarah and the newly revived Ravens football program announced the hiring of J.P. Asselin as the team’s offensive co-ordinator April 19 — less than an hour after the Gee-Gees announced Asselin’s resignation as their head coach.
It may not have been Sumarah’s intention — he insists it wasn’t. But with over 16 months to go until opening kickoff, the cross-town rivalry that dates back at least 50 years is alive and well.
For his part, Sumarah said hiring Asselin was strictly a football decision.
“I’m sure once we get playing, there will be a rivalry, but right now it’s all about making Carleton the best football program that we can,” said Sumarah, who was named head coach in January.
To suggest there was any gamesmanship involved with the hiring is “humorous,” he added.
Asselin said the decision to leave the Gee-Gees wasn’t an easy one.
The 29-year-old was a receiver for the Gee-Gees between 2003 and 2006, a receivers’ coach in 2007, and an assistant offensive co-ordinator and full-time assistant coach in 2008 and 2009. Finally, he took over as head coach the following year.
Ultimately, Asselin said he made the switch because he wanted to get back to what he loved: coaching. As head coach of the Gee-Gees, he was too often bogged down with things like alumni development and fundraising.
It was more of a management role, he said.
“My goal was always to find solutions to free myself a lot more and delegate those responsibilities, but with time you realize it needs to be the head coach that does those things and it wasn’t really working out the way I wanted it,” he said.
“It took me away from coaching and that’s really what I wanted to do.”
And considering he was chosen out of 34 applicants, Sumarah thinks he can do it quite well.
The Ravens put out the posting for the co-ordinator positions in March, but Asselin said he and Sumarah first started talking in February. If it wasn’t for those initial discussions, Asselin said he probably wouldn’t have applied for the job.
But Sumarah’s glad he did. He said there’s a lot to like about his new right-hand man.
“He understands the role of a head coach. The way our program is . . . we’re still 15 months away,” Sumarah said. “There’s a lot of experience that’s going to be needed to make this happen. I think he’s a guy that carries a lot of it.”
He’s also a proven recruiter, Sumarah said. His addition aligns with Sumarah’s goals of winning the recruiting battle against the Gee-Gees, and ensuring that the top players in Ottawa choose Carleton.
“It’s going to help a lot. Really from Ottawa right through to Quebec, we have to make a presence in these markets,” Sumarah said. “I thought the person out there for this was J.P. He’s been there, done that.”
For years, he’s done that with the Gee-Gees. Losing Asselin wasn’t something they had planned for considering he was under contract until 2014, said Colin Timm, an assistant director with the Gee-Gees’ athletics department.
The Gee-Gees brass had been happy with Asselin’s performance, Timm said. In his two years as head coach, the team boasted a 12-4 record. So naturally, when they found out in the last week that losing Asselin to Carleton was a possibility, they met with him to see what they could do to change his mind.
“His decision had been made,” Timm said. “Whether Carleton or any other school, you’re obviously disappointed.”
This wasn’t about the Ravens versus the Gee-Gees, Asselin said. It was about doing what was best for him, his family, and his coaching career, he said.
“If this job was offered with the same coach and the same setup anywhere in the country, I would have probably taken it,” Asselin said. “People see it as me choosing between two programs, but it’s me that lives it everyday. It’s really me choosing between two different jobs.”
And with his new job, Asselin said he won’t even have to take a pay cut. Neither party involved would comment on the specifics of the three-year contract, but the Ravens advertised a salary of between $55,000 and $65,000 per year in the job posting for the position.
“It’s a good salary,” Asselin laughed.
Currently, Sumarah said he has about 20 verbal commitments from players hoping to join the Ravens when they return to Ontario University Athletics competition in 2013 — the most notable being former Saint Mary’s Huskies quarterback Jesse Mills.
Sumarah said he expects the construction of the team’s new locker room, which will be an extension to Alumni Hall, to begin after exams finish at the end of the month.
Keith Harris Stadium is also due for renovations. Discussions about whether seats will be on one side of the field, or both, are ongoing, Sumarah said.
But hiring a defensive co-ordinator is next on his to-do list. Sumarah said he hopes to have someone in place within the next month.
