Brian Dobie – whose alma mater was the University of Manitoba and was also a member of the Manitoba Bisons 1973 Churchill Bowl squad – has been head coach at the U of M since 1996. His 29 total seasons as a U SPORTS head coach are tied for the third most ever, just four shy of Brian Towriss of Saskatchewan for the most.
Dobie is the winningest head coach in Bison football history, with a Canada West regular season record of 115-107-1 and a post-season record of 13-15. Dobie's combined wins total of 127 is 12th all-time in U SPORTS, and that also ranks fourth in terms of active U SPORTS coaches. Additionally, Dobie's 127 wins are fourth all-time in Canada West history.
Dobie has won five Canada West Coach of the Year awards (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 shared award with Brian Towriss of Saskatchewan, 2006), and was also U SPORTS Coach of the Year in 2001.
In the 2024 season, Dobie enters his 50th year of coaching after being head coach for 21 years at Churchill High School in Winnipeg prior to being at the U of M. He has his NCCP Level 4 coaching certification and has been a guest coach at numerous professional camps over the past two decades. In addition, Dobie was inducted into the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association Hall of Fame Class of 2015 as a Builder (Churchill High School Football).
Dobie has coached in two U SPORTS National Championships (2001, 2007), winning the latter. He has also been a part of five Canada West conference regular season titles, including three undefeated regular seasons (2002, 2006, 2007) and three Hardy Cup Championships (2001, 2007, 2014). He has also been to two Mitchell Bowl (U SPORTS Semi-Final) Championships (2001, 2007) plus one Uteck Bowl final (U SPORTS Semi-Final) in 2014.
Dobie has helped produce 87 different players who were selected as Canada West Conference All-Stars, 51 different U SPORTS All-Canadians as well as 14 U SPORTS major award winners (two Presidents Trophy; two J.P. Metras Trophy award winners; two Gino Fracas Award winner; four Russ Jackson awards; one Outstanding Player at Vanier Cup; one Outstanding/Defensive Player at the Vanier Cup; two Churchill/Mitchell Bowl MVP).
At the start of the 2024 season, Dobie has coached 64 student-athletes who were drafted by CFL teams, the eighth-most all-time in U SPORTS history, and third-most in terms of active U SPORTS head coaches. He has also coached one Bison alumni (Israel “Izzy” Idonije) who started at the NFL level for 11 seasons and played in a Super Bowl, plus another player (David Onyemata) that was the first-ever Bison drafted by an NFL team (New Orleans, fourth round, 2016).
He currently resides in Winnipeg with his wife Jackie and family includes daughter Caleigh.
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