Chamblin named CFL’s coach of the year after leading Riders to Grey Cup

OTTAWA – Corey Chamblin is the CFL’s coach of the year.

Chamblin received the Annis Stukus Trophy at the league’s annual coach of the year luncheon.

Kent Austin of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and John Hufnagel of the Calgary Stampeders were the award finalists. Voting was conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada.

Chamblin, 36, capped his second season with Saskatchewan in style, leading the Roughriders to a Grey Cup championship on home soil.

Under Chamblin, the Riders finished second in the West Division standings with an 11-7 record.

Saskatchewan defeated the B.C. Lions 29-25 in the conference semifinal before qualifying for the Grey Cup by downing Calgary 35-13 in the West Division final.

Before a rabid Mosaic Stadium gathering of 44,710, the Riders beat Hamilton 45-23 to become the third straight club to win the Grey Cup as the host squad.

In his first season with Hamilton, Austin led the Ticats to second in the East Division with a 10-8 record before the club posted playoff wins over Montreal and Toronto.

Austin was named the CFL’s top coach in ’07 after leading the Riders to a Grey Cup title.

Calgary posted a league-best 14-4 record under Hufnagel, the ’08 award winner.