Professional football player, coach, mentor, husband, father and philanthropist, Corey Grant, is the man tasked with rebuilding the Carleton Ravens football team.
Grant’s football career started by mistake. When his aunt took him to the wrong location for soccer practice, he ended up at a field hosting football tryouts. What was a complete accident saw Grant fall in love with a sport he played throughout high school.
After being scouted by numerous Division 1 programs, he ended up joining Wilfrid Laurier University’s football team in 1995, where he played until 1998. Grant’s main priority at Laurier was to get an education, but after speaking to scouts, he realized that a career in the Canadian Football League (CFL) was a possibility.
“If you’re around good people, good things will happen and you’ll learn a lot,” Grant said. “Surrounding [myself] with genuine players and coaches helped me grow.”
Grant was drafted seventh overall in the 1999 CFL draft by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He played 11 seasons as a receiver for the Tiger-Cats, Montreal Alouettes and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He amassed a total of 326 receptions for 4479 yards and 16 receiving touchdowns.
He won his first Grey Cup and the East Division’s most outstanding rookie in his first season with Hamilton and his second Grey Cup in 2007 with Saskatchewan. Grant says he was fortunate to be in an environment surrounded by talent and professionalism that taught players to develop the skills necessary to prepare for life on the field and after football.
“Coach [Ron] Lancaster made sure we were working towards something for after football,” Grant said. “I came with an excellent group of older players in my first year in the CFL … A lot of them had other jobs. They made me realize that [my time in the CFL] won’t last forever.”
While playing in the CFL, he visited schools in the community and talked about his experience in the league. This prompted Grant to pursue a career in teaching.
“I wanted to give back the life lessons I was getting from my teachers,” Grant said. “I wanted to pass it forward, so I attended teacher’s college in the offseasons.”
Grant is a fully certified elementary teacher. He said teaching and coaching football are similar.
“When you teach kindergarten, you set a base foundation for them. Knowing that has helped my coaching career,” Grant said. “You have to set a base foundation for your players and then you build from there.”
Grant said he adapts his teaching style to fit his students’ needs while making sure his message is understood by all students, even when his students are strapped into football gear.
Grant got his first CFL coaching opportunity in 2013 as the running back coach for the Tiger-Cats. It was a successful six years in Hamilton for Grant. The Tiger Cats offence consistently ranked top the league in rushing yards and Hamilton made it to two Grey Cup Finals.
His success comes from a high level of camaraderie and keeping an open mind to others’ ideas.
“Sometimes I don’t have all the answers but my players or a colleague will,” Grant said. “You can’t have a mindset like ‘It’s my way or the highway,’ because you won’t succeed that way. You need to be open to new ideas and new ways of doing things.”
In 2019, Grant joined McMaster as the offensive coordinator. In his first season, he had the number one ranked offense in the OUA and led his team to a Yates Cup victory.
It wasn’t only about football for Grant at McMaster, he continued his contributions to the community.
He spent countless hours fulfilling philanthropic efforts, including serving as the executive director of the Black Canadian Coaches Association (BCCA)—an equity, inclusion, and anti-racism initiative within McMaster’s Department of Athletics and Recreation. He also founded the inaugural Female Coaching Apprenticeship program.
Former CFL wide receiver Kamau Peterson, who is the offensive coordinator at York University, was the first person Grant called to join the BCCA board of directors, which formed shortly after George Floyd was murdered in 2020.
Peterson had nothing but praise for Grant, who is beginning his first stint as a head coach in his career.
“He is a tireless worker, passionate, convicted, driven and committed which are all great traits when you are trying to create change,” Peterson said. “He sacrificed a lot and cares deeply for his cause which is what you want in a leader.”
Peterson said he and Grant feel an obligation to ensure that coaching spaces become more diverse. He added the BCCA is an attempt to fix the inequities he faced in his life and to ensure equal opportunities for BIPOC coaches.
“The opportunities just weren’t coming for him even though they should’ve been, based on his qualifications,” Peterson said. “I’m so happy he’s finally been given a chance to be a head coach. He deserves it.”
Grant’s main focus for the season is on developing the team to be the best they can be. He wants everyone to grow together — players and coaching staff alike.
“We’re coming into each game trying to win it,” Grant said. “Every time we go on the field, every time we go out and practice, every time we play a game, we’re working to be the best we can be at all levels.”
Grant won his first game as the Head Coach of the Carleton Ravens, defeating the McMaster Marauders 24-18 last Saturday.
Featured image by Tim Austen
