Frank McCrystal was trying to keep news of his Canada West coach-of-the-year award quiet on Thursday.

"The only reason I would talk very much about that is because it's really a program award," said the head coach of the University of Regina Rams. "Everybody shares in this -- the 10 coaches we have as well as the team manager and all of the other people that make the program go. They just have to attach a name to it. I never think of it as my award at all."

This is the first time McCrystal has won the award.

He may not have wanted to talk about it, but the award was probably four years in the making for McCrystal and the Rams. In 2004, the team went 0-8 on the season while deploying a number of first-year players, including quarterback Teale Orban.

In the ensuing years, the Rams improved to 3-5 in 2005, 4-4 in 2006 and 6-2 this season, all while using many of those same players who couldn't win a game in 2004.

"It took some guts to do that," Rams defensive co-ordinator Paul Dawson said of McCrystal's choice to bank on young players. "It would have been easier to go grab a couple of 23-year-olds (from the junior football ranks) and toss them in there. He's a guy that stood for this and he had to take it on the chin. Everywhere he went, there were people doubting what he was doing. He stayed the course.

"Most of the teams in the league realize what he is doing. Whether they like it or not, they have to give the guy credit. He had built a program right from the ground floor up. He deserves that credit."

Going that route has paid off in the Rams' return to the Canada West final, where they will meet the host Manitoba Bisons for the Hardy Cup. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (The Score, 620 CKRM).

Since the Rams joined the CIS in 1999, McCrystal has had to give away some of his coaching duties while taking on more responsibilities for making sure Rams players were keeping up in their studies and the administration work that comes with the territory.

Even with all that, the thing McCrystal may be most proud of is the Rams' insistence on using young players. A CIS rule implemented in 2002 forbids teams from using players for a full five years who had already played more than two years of junior football. Two years after they graduate high school, players burn a year of CIS eligibility each season they stay in junior football.

"We got out in front of what was inevitable with the junior rule," said McCrystal. "I knew we were going to take it on the chin. But we're cyclical now and I think people recognize that."

And now that the Rams have been rewarded for that choice, the whole team gets a sense of pride from it, including those players that McCrystal and his staff put their faith in several years ago.

"Anytime we get an award like that -- whether it's for an individual player or a coach -- it's a reflection on the whole team," said defensive back Steve Ryan. "It goes to players, the coaching staff and directors who put in the time to make everything work."

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And the winner ...
Canada West Football
2007 Major Award Winners
Most outstanding player: Teale Orban, quarterback, Regina.
Outstanding defensive player: Mat Nesbitt, linebacker, Regina.
Coach-of-the-year: Frank McCrystal, Regina.
Russ Jackson outstanding student-athlete nominee: Orban.
Rookie-of-the-year: Matt Walter, running back, Calgary.
Outstanding lineman: Justin Cooper, defensive end, Manitoba.
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpo...1-5e2f40edcbb1

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