Long-time CFL defensive coordinator Greg Marshall joining Queen’s Golden Gaels — sources

Greg Marshall is going to be coaching the Queen's Golden Gaels — no, not him; the other one whose expertise is on the defensive side of the ball.

The divide between the Canadian Football League and Canadian university football seems to be constantly getting smaller, with coaches moving back and forth between the two largest streams of the three-down game. Over the past two off-seasons, Queen's lost two defensive coaches to the CFL. Coordinator Pat Tracey signing on as the special team coordinator of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Former defensive line coach Leroy Blugh is in his second year in the league, having hopped aboard with the first-year Ottawa Redblacks after a season in Edmonton.

Now, according to sources close to the Gaels, Marshall, who was defensive coordinator for the Edmonton Eskimos in 2013, will be trying his hand at the university game as DC with the storied Kingston, Ont.., program. Queen's announced Tuesday only that Marshall will be a guest coach during preparation for the Ontario University Athletics football season.

It's an intriguing move for Marshall, who's spent two decades in the CFL as a defensive coach, as well as Queen's. The 58-year-old Massachusetts native is somewhat less of a hot commodity at the CFL level after a short-lived head coaching stint in 2011 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, where he was replaced by Ken Miller after a 1-7 start. He was also let go in Edmonton following a staff purge following its 4-14 season. Still, while some of that has to stick to a coach, it certainly doesn't reflect wholly on one coordinator's skills.

How coaches going from the pro to the amateur and/or developmental level adapt to working with a different breed of player is always fascinating. The immediate payoff for bringing in a well-known CFL coach, of course, usually comes down to the talent on the field and the support the program enjoys. Long-time CFL offensive assistant Jamie Barresi had a modicum of success last season after taking over the Ottawa Gee-Gees, going 5-3 with a first-round playoff loss and cultivating an exciting spread passing attack. Of course, Barresi was picking up pieces after a 2012 season where Gary Etcheverry was forced out after only five games of what turned out to be a 2-6 year.

Adding Marshall seems designed to give Pat Sheahan, who's entering his 15th year at Queen's, a seasoned second-in-command. A safe move is understandable for a program that has regularly been near the top of OUA football, if not at the top while competing against the powerhouse du jour, whether it's been Stefan Ptaszek's McMaster teams or the other Greg Marshall's Western Mustangs, who scored 50 or more points in both of their wins over Queen's last season and will be loaded again in 2014 and '15. Either way, Pat Tracey left some big shoes to fill.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.