Canada West football is no stranger to dominance. Almost every team in the conference has had their fair share of time as the face of the conference.
But one school sticks out among all the others: the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
The program hosts one of the richest histories in all of Canadian university football. The Huskies lead Canada West with 21 Hardy Cup wins and have punched their ticket to U SPORTS' biggest game 11 times — tying Calgary for the most Vanier Cup appearances in the conference.
Depending on who you ask, one might view the program as the crown jewel of Canada West football. It's been a while, though, since the Huskies have lived up to that title.
After their last Vanier Cup win in 1998 — a win that gave the school its second championship in three years and third in nine years — the program would go 0-6 in subsequent national championship games, with their most recent losses coming in 2021 and 2022 against Western and Laval.
However, as the head coach of the Huskies, Scott Flory said, "We're the same program, but we're a new team."
Entering his ninth year at the head of the program, Flory has seen Saskatchewan through its highs and lows since being named head coach in 2017.
Taking over as the first head coach of the Huskies following the legendary Brian Towriss — who led the program from 1984 to 2016 and, at the time of Flory’s hiring, was the winningest coach in U SPORTS football history — meant stepping into some enormous shoes.
And while the Huskies haven't yet reached the peak of the mountain and won a Vanier Cup, the team has undertaken a significant transformation in Flory's tenure.
Going from a 2-6 team — the team's worst record since 2000 — and tied for last in the conference in his first season, to playing in the Mitchell Bowl against the Western Mustangs the very next year, Flory oversaw a dramatic turnaround in the direction of the program.
Saskatchewan had achieved the most playoff success in a season since their 2006 Vanier Cup appearance in just two years under Flory after losing in the Canada West semi-finals nine times in the previous 10 seasons under Towriss.
Since that trip to the Mitchell Bowl in 2018, it was a period of continuous growth for the Huskies, who would find themselves in their second consecutive Vanier Cup three seasons later. But now two years removed from their last appearance in the national championship game, the tides have begun to turn.
A loss to the Golden Bears in the 2023 semi-finals and the Rams the next season in the 2024 Hardy Cup have stalled that period of success on the national stage for Saskatchewan.
However, 2025 could be the year that changes everything for the Huskies. With three offensive stars in running back Ryker Frank, wide receiver Daniel Wiebe, and quarterback Anton Amundrud all returning, they host one of the most talented offences on paper in U SPORTS.
Could this be the year Saskatchewan breaks through and reaches the top? Scott Flory sat down with OB.SESSED for an in-depth look at what the new season brings for the Huskies and his plan for the program in 2025 and beyond.
How are you feeling about the season now that training camp is underway?
Flory: I think I'm no different than the 26 other head coaches coast to coast. At the start of camp, everybody's excited, you've got your returning guys, you've got your new recruits coming in, and nobody's played a game yet.
So I think that everybody's just trying to get better, and everybody is feeling good about their team, and then once you start playing games, things change. And that's when you know it'll start to separate.
But I think for us it's been a good start so far, for us personally, and we're just hoping to try and get better each and every day.
What is the feeling around the team right now?
Flory: I'm just getting a group that's locked in and bought into what myself and the coaches are saying. To me, it's always about when you look at that veteran leadership, that's the stuff that's going to steer the ship. And I'm really happy with our veteran leadership and where they're at.
We're getting a couple of senior guys back out of CFL draft stuff, and having those guys back for their last year is also key to that. But yeah, I mean, vibes and all that kind of stuff. I'm not really worried about that. I'm worried about our guys trying to get better each and every day.
I think that as a player, you have to focus. You've got to control what you can control, and they trust us that we're going to take care of the big picture stuff and that we're going to get them to where they need to focus on being in the moment and getting better each and every day.
What do you think this team will improve on from last season?
Flory: Number one is veteran leadership. That's really what it is. That's my biggest stressor every year: making sure that we've got the right captains in the right position and giving them the right tools and the right support to be able to lead the locker room.
So yeah, to me, that's really what it comes down to. And I really like where our veteran leadership is at. I like the guys that we have there. I think that they are trusted and respected in the locker room. I think they've got command of the locker room, and I trust those guys implicitly.
If you had to pick a goal for the program this year, what would it be, and does it include a Vanier Cup?
Flory: I'm sure every team is saying the same thing. I think I said it before, we need, and I think we've got, great leadership, great buy-in within the locker room that trusts the coaching staff that we're going to get it right.
You know, I'm going to give an itinerary on how we're going to get to Alberta, and when kickoff comes, it's going to be their job to make sure that they're ready. We're going to take care of all the rest.
They don't need to be stressed about all that kind of stuff. They need to make sure that they're at their best, so when that ball gets off the tee on whoever kicks off that opening game we're ready to go and we're ready to compete, we know it's going to be a tough game and it's going to be hard.
To define success is interesting, in that it's kind of an internal thing within each and every person. Because what you define as success might be different from the next guy. For us as a program, though, I'll say this: we've got high standards, we have for a very long time as a program. We've been around for over 100 years as a program.
I know that this program has the most Hardy Cups in Canada West history and all that kind of stuff. There's a great history and tradition of success here within this program, and we just want to make sure that we live up to the standards that we have set for ourselves.
Do you view the last two Vanier Cup losses as unfinished business?
Flory: No, we're a new team. You know, we're the same program, but we're a new team. We've got, I think, 26 new guys that have no idea what that was or is about. You know what I mean? We're a different team this year.
2025 brings a whole new crop of players, and with the player change, there's a different feel, the guys coming in, coming out, all that kind of stuff. But we're the same program.
I don't talk like that. I don't concern myself with that internal motivation of players, how they want to get ready. I just want them to be at their best when that ball goes off the foot of the kicker to start the game, and we've got to be as good as we can be, and that's really what we're concerned with.
We're not trying to avenge the past, we're not trying to do any of that stuff. We're just trying to play to our standards every play, every snap, every time we step on that field. We just want to put on a good display of what Huskie football is all about.
With Wiebe and Frank going into their last years and Amundrud in his fourth, is this a “last dance” scenario for this team?
Flory: This program is going to be around a lot longer than I am. I'm not going to be here forever; it's going to be past these guys, and it's going to be on to the next guy. So my job as the leader of this program is to make sure that we're prepared and we're set up annually, as well as for long-term success.
We're going to have another quarterback at some point. We're going to have another running back at some point. We are, and we've got to be able to make sure we find those guys and get them up to speed.
My vision for this has been right from the start, and I tell the players right on day one — it's about sustained success. It's being the best. We want to strive to be the best program in this country, and that's as a program; I'm not talking about wins and losses.
I guess as a program, we do have high standards, but that is not how I look at this at all. We're taking on this year. We know we're in 2025. We know who, what, and where we are, and it's not like we're not planning for the future, that's not our concern.
Any message to Huskies fans about this season?
Flory: We have great fans, we really do. You know, the attendance records, you could look at all that, all that kind of stuff. The people who show up, they support us, and they love us. We're so thankful for all their support, football matters. It's a big part of our culture within our province, within the City of Saskatoon and especially at the University of Saskatchewan.
We have high standards. We just want everybody to come out, have a great time, and sit back, relax and enjoy the show, and hopefully we put on a great brand of football. We know we're gonna have great opponents; there's great opposition.
Every Canada West game is going to be down to the wire. It usually is, and it's going to be a great brand of football. So yeah, that's my wish there for Huskies fans. Come on out and support the boys. They deserve your support.
The Huskies season gets underway with a preseason game on Wednesday night at Griffiths Stadium against the UBC Thunderbirds. Next Friday, their regular season will begin with a tilt in Edmonton against the Alberta Golden Bears.