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Former Eskimos’ OC Kevin Strasser arrested, accused of stealing student’s watch

Andrew Bucholtz

It's not all that uncommon to see former (or even current) CFL players run afoul of trouble with the law, from Yonus Davis to Josh Boden to Adam Braidwood to Jordan Matechuk to Joffrey Reynolds. It's much more surprising to see former coaches in legal trouble, but that's what's happened with former Edmonton Eskimos' offensive coordinator Kevin Strasser. Strasser, now the head coach at Oregon City Prep School, was arrested Tuesday following accusations he stole and pawned a student's watch. FromThe Oregonian:

Sgt. Matthew Paschall, Oregon City Police Department spokesman, said the student, who graduated in May, discovered that his highly distinctive watch disappeared during the last week of school. The student had saved up to buy the watch, a jewel-encrusted Ice Time model with many features, and crushed when it disappeared.

"But he didn't report it," Paschall said. "He figured it was gone."

Earlier this week, however, a friend spotted a similar watch in A-1 Hawk, a Gladstone pawnshop and told the victim, who went to take a look. On Tuesday, the student reported the theft. Officers then checked the pawnshop's state-required records to see who had brought in the watch.

"That's when we did a probable-cause arrest of Mr. Strasser," Paschall said.

Police went to Strasser's home at 5:02 p.m. and arrested him without incident. Strasser bailed out of jail at 1:15 a.m.

Strasser has had a long and prolific career as a NCAA, CFL and high school coach. He started as a high school coach at St. Paul (head coach) and Oregon City (assistant coach), then was an assistant with Oregon State before jumping to the CFL. He spent nine years in the CFL in total, working with Edmonton and Montreal, often as an offensive coordinator. He went back to the NCAA with Portland State in 2007, working with legendary coaches Jerry Glanville and Mouse Davis (a famed CFL figure in his own right and a key architect of the Run-And-Shoot scheme Strasser often used) before leaving for the Eskimos again in 2009, where he spent a year and a half as OC.

Strasser hadn't worked in high school since the 1999 season, but his return to Oregon City ahead of the 2011 season came with lots of promise, and he largely fulfilled that, leading the team to an 8-5 finish and a surprising playoff appearance only a year after a 4-7 season. This charge might well be the end of his coaching career, though. While there may be more to come here, Strasser has been suspended by the school district while an investigation's in progress. If the accusations are true, they could mark a sad ending to a once-promising coaching career.

(H/T: Al H.)