1992 Yates Cup Team Feature

Kyle Walters was an intimidated rookie when he showed up to his first training camp with the Guelph Gryphons back in 1992. Long before his distinguished career as a player, coach, and general manager in the CFL took shape, Walters was a young athlete trying to earn his place on a squad ready to bounce back from a disappointing previous season.

The first-year man, then a running back, quickly took note of the physical ability and subsequent potential that his new team possessed.

“Our defence was dominant, we had outstanding receivers, and a big physical O-line,” the current GM of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers says when recalling the make up of the ’92 Gryphons. “From my perspective as a first-year player coming from a small high school in St. Thomas, ON, it was evident how talented the players were and how hard they worked on and off the field.

“The older players on the team set the tone with their work ethic. Practices were extremely physical and demanding. Going against that defence every day forced our offence to execute at a high level.”

That hard work didn’t pay off immediately in what ultimately became a historic season 27 years ago. Walters recalls that the conference was incredibly competitive at the time, with not much separating the top teams, only four of which would make it to the playoffs. The Gryphons laboured through a 4-3 regular season. But under the guidance of head coach Dan McNally and with a cast of future All-Canadians and CFL stars, led by the legendary linebacker Mike O’Shea, Guelph would eventually secure the second Yates Cup in school history with a dominant 45-10 win over the Western Mustangs at the SkyDome.

Dave Irwin was one of those skilled players that recognized the opportunity in front of the team. The star receiver and 2018 inductee into the Gryphon Hall of Fame says that there was a quiet confidence in the room that year, an understanding that they could beat anyone but without a hint of arrogance. The knowledge that there were so many excellent players on the team, like quarterback Wally Gabler, O-line anchor Rob Wesseling, and defensive standouts O’Shea, Rob Di Gravio, and Steve McKee, eased the pressure because they didn’t have to rely on a single person.

“We were trying to get it together during the season,” says the former CFLer Irwin, now a father of two young kids, who works for S&P Global in Toronto. “There were games that we played better than others but we knew that we were leaving something on the table. We hadn’t peaked yet. We had to work individually and as a team to jell and move towards the potential we all felt we had.

“You’re starting to develop confidence in yourself and the guys in the locker room – that can begin to get dangerous. That’s what we were able to tap into. We didn’t care about the guys outside that locker room.”

The 1992 team would save their best performances when it mattered most. It began in the conference semi-final when the No. 4-seeded Gryphons went on the road to face the Toronto Varsity Blues and their Hec Crighton quarterback Eugene Buccigrossi. That bruising Guelph D made life hard on the athletic Toronto star and after a huge third-down conversion and a clutch Dan Walker field goal to tie the game at the end of regulation, a big Walters run in overtime seemed to sap the life from the favoured Varsity Blues. The Gryphons completed the comeback and advanced to the Yates Cup against Western.

“The semi-final game was a hard fought battle,” says Walters. “Dan Walker kicked a field goal, we scored a couple touchdowns, and our defence dominated. I remember how great it felt to win that game at the old Varsity Stadium and know we were moving on to the SkyDome  for the Yates Cup. Being in high school the year before and realizing that we would be playing at that venue was very exciting.”

There would be no letdown on the big stage for the underdog Gryphons. They embraced the opportunity to take on the powerhouse Mustangs and it was evident from the opening kickoff. Guelph pounced early and never let up.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of talking that needed to happen in the locker room,” recalls Irwin. “That game, especially in the first half, everything clicked. We finally hit our stride and maximized our potential. We made chunk play after chunk play and had them so off balance.

“We wanted to step on their throats.”

The championship game was also the perfect time and setting for the vaunted defence to feast. Long-time Gryphon D-line coach Brian Cluff was in the early stages of his career on the sidelines that season, having been a player on Guelph’s history-making Vanier Cup team just eight year earlier. The veteran coach says that the team’s performances kept ascending and they peaked at the right time. In the neutral setting of the Dome, with no weather concerns, and a fast turf field, the conditions were ideal to put together a masterpiece.

“Our players were well-prepared,” says Cluff, pointing out that the presence of O’Shea, who he calls arguably the best linebacker in the history of Canadian university football, was significant. “They did the work required for a championship game and we were relatively healthy. We had some injuries early in the season but we seem to find the right guys and the right chemistry in that defence.

“An athletic team was going to be able to excel. It was a great day for Gryphon Football beating Western – and dominating them.”

Guelph had kept the Mustangs off the scoresheet in the first half and despite a small Western rally coming out of the break, the Gryphons never let up. And when the clock ran out, they would hoist the Yates Cup for the second time in eight years.

“Winning a championship is always special, whether you’re a player or a coach,” says Cluff, who has incredibly been with the Gryphon Football program for each of its four Yates Cup victories. “The players are living it first hand, on the field, the ones getting it done, executing and making the plays. The coaches are living vicariously through their players. It was such a wonderful experience for me in 1984 as a player and I was equally as pleased for the players we were coaching, that they had the opportunity to experience a championship.”

Irwin vividly remembers the feeling on the sideline in the Yates Cup as the final seconds were ticking away, that “this is happening.”

“If we lose that game, maybe you struggle to remember everyone on that team and certainly don’t get the recognition from the university,” he says. “When you win a championship, we are connected forever and no one can take it away. That’s a special thing.

“We weren’t the top-ranked team,” Irwin adds. “We had to battle and struggle to make the playoffs and every game was a fight. That determination, perseverance, hard work, those are the things that carry you through life and make you successful not matter what you take on.

“We always have a little self doubt in our own minds. It quiets that voice.”

The team desperately wanted to go the distance but a 23-16 loss to the eventual Vanier Cup champion Queen’s Gaels in the national semi-final brought an end to an amazing season. Walters still considers that result against Queen’s as one of the biggest disappointments of his career.

That season ended up being an important year for Walters, who would eventually take the reins of the program as a head coach from 20016 to 2009. He tore his ACL in the Yates Cup, broke his foot the following year, and broke his collar bone in his third season. He considers the string of injuries a blessing in disguise as they prompted him to switch from running back to defensive back, the position he would play as a pro.

Walters does get to see one of his old 1992 teammates on a regular basis. As GM in Winnipeg, he considered only one man as head coach for the Blue Bombers – O’Shea.

“I had coached against him and knew how good he was,” Walters says of the Gryphon icon. “I also knew he was an outstanding leader.

“We really don’t talk much about the Guelph days as it was a long time ago but when we do we say that’s the team that was good enough to win a Vanier.”

Written by: david dicenzo