CIS Corner: Carleton Ravens nab Ottawa’s head coach before even playing a game

In a seven-year span in the 1990s and early 2000s, either the Ottawa Gee-Gees or Saint Mary's Huskies competed in the Vanier Cup six times. That was the same timeframe when Carleton University folded its football team.

So it's rather striking to see that both programs which were titans not so long ago in the small yet vital world of Canadian university football have both lost their head coaches in a matter of weeks to the revived Ravens, who will take wing in Ontario University Athletics in 2013. On Thursday, Carleton announced that Jean-Philippe Asselin, who guided Ottawa to an appearance in the Yates Cup two years ago, is jetting across the nation's captain to join Carleton as its offensive coordinator. He will work with Steve Sumurah, the former Saint Mary's coach who was hired at Carleton in January.

You read that correctly: the head coach of a team which had the country's best player, current Calgary Stampeders reserve quarter Brad Sinopoli, just two seasons ago is joining a program in the same city which has yet to play a game and only has 20 recruits lined up for its yearling season. Sumarah says he "was not trying to stir up the rivalry" between Carleton and Ottawa with the hiring. Guess what? It probably will. Who knows who Ottawa would have in mind for a replacement; rumours are already flying.

Along with stoking a rivalry for the first Panda Game, the move is another signal of the shift in the power structure of CIS football away from some traditional powers during this era of more restrictive eligibility rules and programs that are funded privately rather than by a university.

Carleton's new team is being bankrolled by an alumni group called Old Crows Football, Inc. Asselin told Canada Football Chat that even though he played for Ottawa before coaching it, the Ravens' start-up operation was a better deal for him.

In CIS circles, that reference to "hands-on coaching" might be read as veiled shot at Ottawa's athletic administration, which has had some difficult retaining good people even to the point where some coaches have made lateral moves to other jobs. This is probably getting to the point of digression, but Ottawa in the past few years has seen its women's hockey coach, Shelley Coolidge, pull up stakes for Carleton while its men's basketball coach, Dave DeAveiro, left for McGill. Asselin taking over in 2010 was of a piece with that, since his predecessor, Denis Piché, abruptly resigned and now coaches at a CEGEP program in Gatineau, Que., which is actually a feeder team to the Gee-Gees.

Asselin, who's just 29 years old, is a bright young coach with a lot to offer. How fast Carleton hits the ground running remains to be seen.

The Laval Rouge et Or are the model of how a privately funded football team can be a powerhouse in CIS football, having won the Vanier Cup six times during their 16-season history. However, they had a much more wide-open territory to conquer, so to speak. The Regina Rams had early success with a Vanier Cup appearance in 2000, their second season, but have yet to win the Canada West conference since. (That Regina team also relied a lot of 20-something alumni of junior football who would probably be ineligible for CIS football today.) The Sherbrooke Vert et Or have had their triumphs since fielding their first time in 2003 but their path to glory has been blunted by Laval, like with everyone else in Quebec.

While CIS still maintains a national championship involving four regional winners, the OUA and Laval-led RSEQ really seem to be taking over as the two power conferences. Calgary, Saskatchewan and UBC are still strong in Canada West . In the 1990s/early 2000s era it was all about Huskies of some kind, either Saint Mary's from the east or Saskatchewan in the west.

Carleton is coming into an OUA which is much deeper and where many of its teams have renewed their dedication to football, improving facilities and adding more full-time coaching positions. Defending national champion McMaster, 2009 champion Queen's, Western and Wilfrid Laurier, of course, and even long-time mid-pack teams such as Guelph and Windsor seem to be stepping it up.

Carleton will probably take some lumps in Year 1, but it could be in the thick of it before too long. Plucking away their city rival's head coach is an impressive start.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.