CLU Head Football Coach Resigns, Moves on to the Pros

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (Jan. 30, 2007) – After 11 years at the helm of Kingsmen football, Scott Squires has decided to turn in his collegiate whistle to coach for the pros in the Great White North.

Squires has accepted a position with the Canadian Football League as the Special Teams Coordinator of the Edmonton Eskimos, announced John Sladek, President of California Lutheran University.

“Though I have just gotten to know Scott in the past few months, I know that he has built a great football program,” said Sladek. “He has created a lasting legacy and raised the bar for our expectations for all athletic programs at CLU. I am sorry to see him leave, but I wish him every success.”

Squires signed on as CLU's head football coach in February 1996. He has led the team to a 55-44 overall record. Over the past three seasons, the Kingsmen have chalked up a 20-7 record and enjoyed an 11-game winning streak from 2005 to 2006.

The third head coach in the history of the CLU football program, he had the opportunity to work under both of the previous head coaches. When he joined the CLU staff in 1989 he was responsible for coaching the defensive line and long snappers under the tutelage of 28-year Kingsmen head coach Bob Shoup.

In only his second season as head coach at CLU, Squires guided the 1997 Kingsmen to the program’s first conference championship when the team shared the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) title. Squires was named the conference’s Coach of the Year.

However, Squires’ best season record came in 2005 when he led his team to an 8-1 finish (5-1 in SCIAC). Over the years, Squires has coached five All-Americans, one SCIAC Player of the Year, 59 First Team All-SCIAC players and 50 Second Team All-SCIAC players.

For Squires, the move to the Canadian pros will be a challenge, but it will also allow him more time with his family in the off season. “Despite being away from my family during the football season, I will have an opportunity to be a stay-at-home dad when the season is over,” said Squires. Squires and his wife, Sherith, have three children ages 9, 7 and 4.

“The decision to leave CLU was a tough one,” said Squires, who is known for the phrase “Kingsmen born and Kingsmen bred, Kingsmen till the day I’m dead.” The people and the relationships I have formed here with the players and the community are what I cherish the most, he added.

Squires praised his Kingsmen athletes, calling them “a great group of men with a fantastic sense of ‘team.’” He said he believes that their willingness to work hard will allow them to overcome the hurdle to win a SCIAC Championship.

Squires admits that there will be a learning curve as he begins his Canadian football coaching career. Along with a new environment, he will have to adjust to working with a 12-man team on a longer and wider field.

“Scott has been a tremendous asset to the University and the Kingsmen football program for the past 11 years,” said Dan Kuntz, Athletic Director.

“We are very happy for Scott and his family and for his opportunity to be involved in a leadership role in a professional football organization,” added Kuntz. “I know that with his talents, he will be a success.”

A search for Squires’ successor will begin immediately, according to school officials.