It's the middle of August, and the Bisons football team has just finished their first day of on-field sessions during training camp. Shortly afterwards, the team's called into the meeting room at Princess Auto Stadium, where 29-year head coach Brian Dobie is set to deliver a message.
 
Anyone who knows Dobie, knows he's not short on words. The ultimate motivator, he's given more than a few legendary speeches during his time at Manitoba, and for the assembled roster in the room, today seems no different than any other.
 
As student-athletes get settled, Dobie is quick to remind them this speech may last a while. Again, that's not out of the ordinary, but as the long-time bench boss gets going, the tone begins to shift.
 
Near the end of his hour-and-a-half-long speech, Dobie makes one final, powerful statement.
 
After a sensational career that began in 1996, the 2024 season will be his last as head coach.
 
"I love this team. People ask who's your favourite team? To me the best answer is the team that you're coaching right now. You guys represent every player I've ever coached," he says, holding back tears.
 
"That's not a cheesy comment. This is my last ride. It's been 50 years [as a head coach], 29 years here. I love U SPORTS. I love the University of Manitoba. Will I miss competing? Oh yeah. Will I miss the coaches room? Absolutely."
 
"When things are bad, and I'm angry or I'm depressed, when I show up here, every time, it never fails, I always get lifted up. Your energy, your commitment, your enthusiasm, who you are. You guys make my life," he adds.
 
"Make no mistake about it, the two things in my life I care about most, are my family and Bisons football. To walk away from everything is really hard. I wouldn't trade this for anything else. I have had an incredible life. Other than my wife and my daughter, you guys have been the biggest part of my life. I thank you for everything you've given to me."
 
You could hear a pin drop in the room following Dobie's announcement.
 
For some, tears were shed. Others took a while to process the news. Slowly but surely, numerous members of the roster made their way to the front of the room, to embrace their coach.
 
As the days went by, and the team got back to business, that sadness turned to motivation.
 
'One last ride,' as Dobie put it.
 
Added incentive for a group of already hungry student-athletes, a quarter of whom are seniors in 2024. The core of this team has overcome loss, both on and off the field, and their coach has been there with them through it all.
 
"We've been through a lot together, so much adversity. There's so many moments we've had together. We were already so motivated and so into the season, and then the coach Dobie news happened," says starting quarterback Jackson Tachinski, recruited by Dobie in 2019 as a two-sport star.
 
"That just brings a whole other level of motivation. We all have really strong belief in that locker room that we're going to do well."
 

"I look at Dobie as my second father. He genuinely has a special relationship with every player in this locker room," adds receiver AK Gassama, a CFL Draft pick, back-to-back All-Canadian and the longest-serving member of the roster alongside linebacker Nick Thomas.
 
"He takes the time to communicate with you. He's super big on individuals who come together as a team. He allows you to be you. You don't feel like you have to change yourself, but you know you have to commit yourself to a bigger picture. He taught me how to do that."


'It's not what happens to you in life that determines what counts'
Dobie has many incredible traits as a head coach. One of them is his ability to relate to every player he recruits. He sees their perspective, he cares for them like they're his own children.
 
A perfect example can be seen in Nick Thomas.
 
A raw talent coming out of British Columbia in 2017, the hard-hitting linebacker didn't have it easy growing up.
 
A part of ten different foster homes, he could have folded given his circumstances, but he didn't. As time went on, Thomas honed his skills on the gridiron, and that hard work ultimately caught the eye of Dobie.
 
Thomas, who didn't strap on the pads until grade 12, played community football for the Langley Stampeders. It's not typically a high enough level to get recruited by a university coach, but Dobie was drawn to Thomas' athleticism and dedication. He saw his potential.
 
When Dobie got to meet Thomas, he was sold. His attitude on the field was mimicked by an undying level of positivity off of it, regardless of what he'd gone through.  
 
"All I ever remember seeing of Nick in my entire time recruiting him – and my entire time working here – when I think of Nick Thomas, I think of him smiling. He went through his entire growing process – when I was recruiting him, the social worker that was with him at that time pulled me aside and she literally said him and his sister are the poster children for social services in BC. They have handled their situations in the most unbelievable, positive way," says Dobie.
 
"People like that deserve chances. You don't always get what you deserve, but Nick has. He got an opportunity here, and he took it and ran with it. His early part here was an incredible struggle. He was failing school and didn't understand our defence. He'll tell you, he was close to quitting. I remember him coming in here and sitting down and saying he was going to pack it in. I convinced him not to and he continued. Look what happened."
 
"Coach Dobie has been a big part of my life. I came here as a little boy in 2017, and now I feel like a grown man. He's seen me grow," adds Thomas, a CFL Draft pick of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and one of just 23 players in school history to amass 100 career regular season tackles.
 
"I can go talk to coach Dobie about anything. He's one of those people, where even if you're not playing well, he's going to show you unconditional love. If I'm not doing well in school, he's not going to look at me a different way. He's that kind of person to me. If it wasn't for the Bisons program, I don't know where I would be. I'm just thankful that I've had the opportunity to be here."
 
Dobie can relate to Thomas, and countless others, because of his own experiences, some of which he shared during his speech to the team.
 
Born in 1953 in Ottawa, he came from humble beginnings. Adopted at birth, his dad was a "really intelligent guy" with a Master's Degree from Queen's, who unfortunately got sick with polio while working on the St. Lawrence River.
 
Later on, Dobie's mother took him and his sister out west. Every year from when he was five until grade nine, the family was on the move, and they admittedly "grew up poor."
 
But life is all about perspective. From a young age, Dobie was taught the value of hard work, and having empathy for others.
 
"Nobody needs to feel sorry for me. I've got a great life. My message to the team that I really tried to hammer home, was I've been there. I understand what poor looks like and feels like. I grew up that way, I get it," he recalls.
 
"My literal philosophy is that it's not what happens to you in life that determines what counts, it's how you react to it that defines your character."
 

Dobie's work ethic was evident during his time as a student-athlete at the University of Manitoba, where he was part of the team's 1973 Churchill Bowl roster.  
 
He lived in residence for his first few years, and at that time, athletic scholarships weren't available. He took 30 credit hours every year, played Bisons football and also ran on the track team, paying for his fees by working long, hard hours of manual labour through the summer.
 
Dobie first worked at a cement company in St. Boniface, and later assisted with the Churchill River Diversion Project.
 
"I wasn't going to let my mom down, and I wasn't going to let myself down. I was scared to not study, I was scared to not go to class, because I knew it would affect my life. I was 5'6", 148 pounds. I wasn't going to the NFL. School was super important."
 
 
Relationship building, national recruiting and a Vanier Cup
After graduation, Dobie knew he wanted to stay involved in football. It was his dream to eventually coach for the Bisons, but he originally got his start as a physical education teacher at Churchill High School, where he also coached the football team.  
 
"It literally felt like I just got hired at Notre Dame. How lucky am I? I'm teaching phys ed, and I'm coaching football," he says.
 
"I got hired [at Churchill] because I was an ex-Bison. My coaching resume literally didn't have one thing in it. We were pretty disastrous for a couple of years and then we started to accelerate."
 
The ultimate motivator, Dobie's Bulldogs won Winnipeg High School Football League [WHSFL] Championships in 1981, 1983 and 1992, and were finalists in 1982 and 1995.
 
In 1990, the head coaching position at Manitoba became available to apply for.
 
At that time, the program was struggling. After winning the second of back-to-back Vanier Cups in 1970, Manitoba had amassed just two winning seasons since. Dobie applied, but ultimately the position went to Scott Spurgeon.
 
In 1993, the position was once again available, but this time it went to Ron Lancaster Jr.
 
Three years later, on his third time applying, Dobie got the job. He was hired on an interim basis, and was ecstatic.
 
That excitement quickly turned to fear, as the Herd went 0-8 in 1996. But despite the team's record, Athletic Director Walt McKee kept the faith in Dobie, and it paid off.
 
After going 3-21 in his first three seasons, Dobie's Bisons went an incredible 26-5 in the regular season between 1999-2002.
 
Along the way, Manitoba posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1969-70 with Dobie leading the program back to national prominence, and a trip to the Vanier Cup in 2001.


 
By 2007, the Bisons were Vanier Cup champs, and in present day Dobie's firmly established himself as the winningest head coach in program history, with 121 total victories.
 
National recruiting was a major reason for Manitoba's success [click here for the full story, including info on the 2007 Vanier Cup season].
 
At the time Dobie's hiring, the concept was new to the U SPORTS game, with only a few other coaches doing so, including long-time friend Blake Nill, then at St. Mary's and now with UBC.
 
"I had literally made a statement when I got hired that this team was going to be Manitoba through and through. I realized that in order to be successful, that verbatim couldn't be the case. We're a small province with a great football community, but in relative terms to the provinces where our competitors live, we're very tiny. To do it with just Manitobans wasn't going to go. I realized by the end of that 1996 season that I had to look elsewhere."
 
Two of Dobie's earliest out of province recruits played major roles, in Langley Rams alum Will Loftus (defensive back) and Craig Carr (running back), a former standout for Vanier College in Quebec.
 
Both players were spectacular on the gridiron (Carr had received interest to play at the University of Houston) but had endured struggles in their personal lives that hindered them from continuing their careers at the post-secondary level.
 
Instead of counting them out, Dobie – like he always does – developed personal relationships with each and gave the pair a shot to accomplish their goals at UM. That core philosophy – with both players and coaches alike – has remained with the personable head coach to this day.
 
The duo later became two of the 64 total student-athletes drafted into the CFL during Dobie's time as head coach.
 
Carr played for the Bisons from 1997-99, with his 2478 career rushing yards sitting third all-time in program history. He broke out in a big way in his first season, making plays as both as returner and rusher. He tallied 251 yards against Alberta midway through the year, and finished with 1015 on the ground overall. Carr was taken in the second round of the 2000 CFL Draft and played six seasons.
 
Meanwhile, the Vancouver-based Loftus  was another guy that "no one was giving a chance to." Like Carr, he made an immediate difference for the Herd. The Montreal Alouettes took him in the third round of the CFL draft the following year, and he won Grey Cups with the Als in 2002 and Edmonton Eskimos in 2005.
 
"Recruiting to me, and I think to everybody, is about relationships, for every reason. It's 85 percent about relationship-building and 15 percent about everything else you're going to sell about your program. Lots of people have good programs, so if you can't build that relationship you probably don't have a chance."
 
'Treat people with respect'
This Saturday, Dobie will walk onto the field for his final homecoming game as head coach for Manitoba.
 
Prior to the contest, he'll have the chance to interact with many program alum, including those who helped set a winning standard, in 2001 [11 All-Canadians, a school record, the team will be recognized during the annual homecoming brunch].
 
And while records, wins and losses will be mentioned, it won't be the focal point of any conversation. Instead, like he always does, Dobie will ask how each individual is doing, how their life is going, and how proud he is of them.  
 
"Treat people with respect. Ninety-nine percent of the time you're getting some form of respect back. That exchange of respect helps make people into better people. Each of one those people is walking in their own shoes. You need to understand that and respect that. I feel strongly about that. To me, that's absolutely the bottom line of what it's all about."