Huskies in action in a game at Griffiths Stadium. Fans in bleachers in background.

Posed indoor image of Carl Thoma, Huskie football player and Canada West all-star, in uniform.

Brian Towriss, Huskies head football coach, wearing a headset and taking to players on the sidelines.

Bio/Historical Note: Brian (B.T.) Towriss (b. 1956) played defensive tackle for the University of Saskatchewan football team from 1974-1977. Towriss became the Huskies’ head coach in 1984 after spending four seasons as assistant coach. Towriss became CIS football's winningest head coach in 2011, surpassing Larry Haylor with his 170th overall win. He resigned as head coach in December 2016 with a U Sports football record 196 wins and 315 games coached. Towriss also holds the record for most appearances as a head coach in the Vanier Cup with nine, having won three of those in 1990, 1996, 1998. He is a member of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, awarded in 2007. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2017 as a builder.

Posed indoor image of Brian Towriss, Huskies football defensive tackle and Canada West all-star, in uniform.

Bio/Historical Note: Brian (B.T.) Towriss (b. 1956) played defensive tackle for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies from 1974-1977. Towriss became the Huskies’ head coach in 1984 after spending four seasons as assistant coach. Towriss became CIS football's winningest head coach in 2011, surpassing Larry Haylor with his 170th overall win. He resigned as head coach in December 2016 with a U Sports football record 196 wins and 315 games coached. Towriss also holds the record for most appearances as a head coach in the Vanier Cup with nine, having won three of those in 1990, 1996, 1998. He is a member of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, awarded in 2007. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2017 as a builder.

Head and shoulders image of Bob Laycoe, Huskie football and wrestler.

Bio/Historical Note: Robert (Bob) Laycoe and his parents, Hal and Marjorie, and the Laycoe family were amongst a group of Canadians who came to Portland in the summer of 1960. Hal Laycoe coached the new Portland Buckaroos hockey team for 9 years. Laycoe attended Cleveland High and played football and wrestled. Linfield College in McMinnvill, Oregon, and played football and wrestled. Upon graduation in 1968 he moved to Vancouver, earning an MA (1969) in Kinesiology and playing another year of football for the Thunderbirds at the University of British Columbia. He also won 4 Canadian titles in wrestling. Laycoe was an assistant coach with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football and wrestling programs from 1969-70 to 1971-72 and was head coach of both teams in 1972-73. Laycoe served as interim athletic director at the U of S when Don Burgess was on sabbatical in 1971-72. He coached football with Frank Smith at UBC from 1973 to 1987, winning two Vanier Cups (national championships). Laycoe was in Vancouver while his father coached the Vancouver Canucks in the NHL. Eventually Laycoe went to Toronto to coach the University of Toronto Varsity Blues from 1988-2002. He won a third Vanier Cup in 1993. When Laycoe’s neurological disorder forced his early retirement, he moved to the Okanagan in British Columbia. Hall of Fame awards followed Laycoe from Cleveland High to Linfield College, to the University of British Columbia and to the University of Toronto. The Frank Smith and Bob Laycoe Varsity Training Facility was established at UBC. Bob Laycoe died suddenly 28 December 2020 at age 73 from complications from cumulative traumatic encephalopathy and secondary Parkinson’s disease which developed over decades.

Action shot of University of Saskatchewan Huskies football game at Griffiths Stadium during Frosh Welcome Week. Fans in bleachers in background.

Head and shoulders image of Eddie Nagel, coach for the 1920, 1923, and 1925 seasons.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Edmund Burke Nagle dedicated himself equally to dentistry and amateur sports, especially hockey. Born in 1894 in Almonte, Ontario, Eddie, as he’d become to be known, played football and hockey at St. Joseph High School in the early 1900s. However, it was in college where his athletic talents rose to fame. Starting in November 1910 Dr. Nagle enrolled in Ottawa College with newspapers declaring his right half-back position. However, he also continued to play the seven-man hockey and starred at center. After graduating in 1915 he continued to play amateur sports with the Ottawa Club. That same year Nagle was expected to attend McGill University for Dentistry. He instead spent the year coaching and playing hockey at different levels. Starting in November 1916 he attended the University of Pittsburgh to study dentistry. He played hockey with the city’s famous Pittsburgh All-Stars, or Yellow Jackets. During the 1917-1918 season, he also played in the National Amateur Hockey League with the All-Stars. In May 1918 Dr. Nagle received his draft notice from Canada and traveled back to Canada to enlist. He took a commission in the Royal Navy as surgeon probationer. He returned to Pittsburgh in 1919 in time for school and hockey season. Dr. Nagel continued to play with the All-Stars. After hockey, war and other events, Dr. Nagle graduated in June 1920 and settled in Saskatoon, playing hockey with the Saskatoon Sheiks. After starting up his practice, he remained active in amateur sports, especially hockey. Dr. Nagle was the University of Saskatchewan football coach for the 1920, 1923, and 1925 seasons; his teams went 4-6 in regular season play with no playoff appearances. Dr. Nagle moved his practice to Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, in 1965. Dr. Nagle died on 24 June 1966 on a cruise ship near San Francisco.

Head and shoulders image of Martin Ruby, Huskie football line coach.

Bio/Historical Note: Martin Owen Ruby (1922-2002) was an offensive tackle and defensive tackle for the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers in the All-America Football Conference; New York Yanks of the National Football League; and the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Western Interprovincial Football Union. Ruby played for the Roughriders from 1951-1957. He was selected as one of six Roughriders named to the 1956 Canadian Press Western Interprovincial Football Union All-Star Team. Ruby and a teammate, defensive back Larry Isbell (who also had a University of Saskatchewan Huskies football connection), barely missed taking an ill-fated Vancouver to Montreal Trans-Canada Airlines plane which experienced engine failure above Hope, British Columbia, on 10 December 1956. They had tickets on the following flight to Montreal after passing on the earlier flight. The missing plane's pilot turned back at Princeton, British Columbia, while facing snow and ice. The Trans Canada airliner, carrying 62 people, went down in the Chilliwack Mountain region of British Columbia. Ruby had just finished playing in the East–West All-Star Game.

Head and shoulders image of Larry Isbell, Huskies backfield coach.

Bio/Historical Note: Lawrence Dale Isbell (1930-1978) was one of the rare players to be All-American in both baseball and in football. He was an All-American quarterback in 1951, when he guided the Baylor Bears football team to the Orange Bowl; he threw for 26 career touchdowns in college. In 1952 Isbell was named All-American catcher by the American Baseball Coaches Association. That season he set a school record with a .431 average; through 2008, he still ranked second in Baylor Bears baseball annals for best single-season average, behind only Mickey Sullivan. Isbell played minor league baseball for the Boston Red Sox and Brooklyn Dodgers organizations. He also played from 1954-1958 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders as an all-star defensive back, as well as a punter, quarterback and wide receiver. Isbell was working as a car salesman in Clifton, Texas, when he died of a heart attack in 1978.

Head and shoulders image of Stan Wilson, University of Saskatchewan football coach for 1921.

Bio/Historical Note: The team finished with a 1-2 record in the only year Stan Wilson coached.

Head and shoulders image of Dan Farthing, Huskies receiver and Canada West all-star in 1988 and 1990, in uniform.

Bio/Historical Note: Dan Farthing (b. 1969) played with the Huskie football team from 1987-1990. In his rookie season Farthing made his mark in football as a receiver with three touchdowns on 31 receptions for 759 yards. He was named the Canada West and CIS Rookie of the Year – just one of five Huskies to ever win a national football award. The next season Farthing scored three touchdowns on 33 receptions for 756 yards, leading the conference and country in receiving. As well as winning the Canada West MVP award, Farthing was named both an all-star and a CIAU All-Canadian. He added another all-star nod in 1990 after helping the Huskies to their first-ever Vanier Cup championship. He was also awarded the Huskie Athletics Rusty MacDonald Cup, given to the athlete who best combines sportsmanship, leadership and athletics. Farthing graduated from the College of Physical Education and was the first student in the college to win the President’s Medal for most distinguished graduate. He was drafted in the CFL in 1991 by the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the first round, second overall - the second highest of any Huskie. Farthing had an 11-year career as a receiver with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, starting in 1991. He retired in 2001 and was inducted into the Roughriders Plaza of Honour in 2009.

Players reach for the ball during a Huskies-University of Alberta Golden Bears game in Edmonton.

Huskies on defence against the University of Manitoba Bisons at Griffiths Stadium.

Dale West, Huskies football player and Western Collegiate Intramural Athletic Association (WCIAA) all-star at defensive back, posing for the camera.

Bio/Historical Note: Kenneth Dale West (b. 1941) was an outstanding Saskatchewan athlete, excelling in football, track and field, speed skating and baseball. In 1951 at the age of ten, Dale West was the Canadian bantam boys speed skating champion. West had an outstanding high school football career at Bedford Road in Saskatoon. He held high school track and field titles in 100-yard and 220-yard sprints, triple jump, discus, and javelin. This led to accolades at the provincial and national level. In 1960 he was named first alternate on the 1960 Canadian Winter Olympic Games squad. At age 17 West attended the University of Arizona on a football scholarship where he lettered for the varsity team. He returned to Saskatchewan, attended the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and was named to the Western Conference All-Star team at defensive back. West later graduated from the University of Regina. In 1962 West joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders as flanker. In 1963 he was named all-star safety and was the Western nominee for Most Valuable Canadian Player. He earned All-Star nods again in 1964 and 1965. 1966 brought a Grey Cup victory to the Riders. West retired from football in 1968.

Gary Korven [Kjorven], Huskies player and Western Collegiate Intramural Athletic Association (W.C.I.A.A.) football all-star, in uniform.

Bio/Historical Note: Gary Korven [Kjorven] played basketball for the University of Regina Cougars in 1968.1969.