Longtime JAC grid soldier Chapman calls it a day

When the news was released concerning Lou Chapman’s decision to step down as John Abbott football Islanders head coach, those who knew the Pointe Claire resident knew only one thing.

The longtime Abbott grid soldier had retired, not resigned. Quit was simply not a word in Chapman’s vocabulary.

“To dare is to do what is needed to be successful; to never back up from any opponent, to never back down from any challenge and to never quit,” said Chapman, who took over the head coaching position at Abbott from Dennis Waide in the winter of 2005. “To play football is to be special. Not everybody has the chance to play this game and when given that chance, don’t give it away because you were afraid to dare.”

Chapman’s association with Abbott football began as a player in 1971 as a member of the first ever football team fielded by Abbott and Macdonald College. In 1983, he began a 23-year run as an assistant coach on the defensive and offensive side of the line with the Isles, including Waide’s 2002 CEGEP AA Bol d’Or-winning club. As head coach, he recorded a regular season record of 8-22 and a playoff record of 1-3.

Perhaps Chapman’s biggest accomplishment as head coach came in a quarter-final contest during the 2006 playoffs. On the road against the Sherbrooke Volunteers, coming off a dismal 1-9 regular season record and with former Lakeshore Cougars performer Scott Mironowicz calling the signals at quarterback, Chapman’s troops shocked the hometown side 20-15. The Volunteers finished with an 8-2 mark.

“Lou’s dedication, passion and time commitment to this football program were beyond the call of duty and his energy will be missed by the football program and the Sports and Recreation Department,” said Abbott Sports and Recreation chairman Steve Shaw.

“His accomplishments go beyond the football field. He has been an academic coach and a mentor to many of his players, but most importantly, he has been a friend to hundreds of football players that have gone through John Abbott College.”

Two of the more prominent ones included Pointe Claire native Louis Philippe Ladouceur, currently employed as a long snapper with the National Football League Dallas Cowboys, and West Island native Michael Soles, whose Canadian Football League career included stops in Edmonton and Montreal.

Chapman, who first strapped on the pads as a player with Lindsay Place High School in Pointe Claire in the late 1960s and early 1970s, will continue to work at Abbott in his full-time job as an academic advisor and plans to help the Sports and Recreation Department with its academic program.

With Chapman’s departure, the search for his replacement is now on. If Shaw should decide not to promote one of Chapman’s assistants from this year’s squad to the position, several area coaches who have learned their trade at North Shore, Lakeshore or St. Lazare could conceivably throw their names into the pile of contenders.