Sarnia's Vince Flamia is a couple weeks into his new job with the University of Windsor's football team.
He was hired as the Special Teams Coach and Recruiting Coordinator after two seasons with Laurier University, where he was the Golden Hawks' Defensive Backs and Special Teams Assistant Coach.
"I had some great mentors with the Golden Hawks, I learned a lot coming off a Yates Cup win," says Flamia. "I'm hoping I can try and bring some of those philosophies to Windsor, with recruiting and how we structure our special teams."
Flamia also played two seasons with Laurier in 2005 and 2006, winning the Yates Cup and Vanier Cup during his rookie season.
After earning his teaching degree at the University of Windsor in 2010, Flamia attended Ohio University where he completed his Master of Science in Coaching Education and Sport Sciences.
Flamia says he first realized his love for coaching during his time as defensive coordinator for St. Christopher's in Sarnia.
"My biggest influence when it comes to coaching is Dave Greenwood, he's an absolute coaching legend in Sarnia, he taught me the right way to do things. We still keep in contact and he's still a mentor to me to this day," he says. "He really helped me to understand the game, how you really have to invest your time with film breakdown and other preparations."
Flamia will also serve as the Lancer's Defensive Back Coach.
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Jake Jeffrey: I know you're new to the position, but how does your day-to-day differ from when you're in the offseason, to what your day looks like during the regular season in the fall?
Vince Flamia: A lot of my time is focused on recruiting right now, it's a little late in the recruiting season but there are still a lot of talented players out there. During the season it's a bit harder to get out and recruit, that's why we really try to take advantage of summer football. I'll try to get out during the season and recruit locally, especially Windsor, Chatham and Sarnia. There's some great football in those areas and we need to take advantage of that, we need to win our backyard.
JJ: For the guys in those areas, Western University is the other "close to home option" for them, so the hope is that you can get some of those guys down to Windsor for the Lancers' program?
VF: Exactly, I think we have a lot to offer, especially with a $73-million facility upgrade 2018, and Huffington Post just released a list that named Windsor as the number one University on the rise in Canada. There's a lot of good things happening here, a lot of support from both the athletic and academic administrations here.
JJ: How has recruiting changed in the last ten years, now that you're on the other side of things as opposed to when you were playing for Laurier back in 2005 and 2006?
VF: I think social media has taken its own pathway into recruiting, it's a very competitive environment. I think what will give us the edge is building that connection with the athlete. That way they feel comfortable coming to your program, and you have a good idea with the guys character before he's even in the lineup.
JJ: Players play a bigger recruiting role than most people think, is that what you find, a lot of times it's those fourth or fifth year guys end up being the final sell?
VF: I agree, I said to our players the other day that our best recruiters are our current players. By them showing a great product, and reaching out to these young high school kids, they are going to look to the older guys for guidance. Do they love where they're at? Are they trying to win? These are all things potential recruits can pick up on.
JJ: With social media and the internet, now more than ever players are aware of their potential options, almost to a fault where, they may have too many options.
VF: That's a good point, there is a lot of entitlement right now when it comes to some of the high school athletes, they want to go to the winning product right away. The type of guys we want, are the guys that are going to be leaders, and want to come here and turn things around. There are going to be ups and downs, but if you want to invest and commit yourself to four or five years with the Lancer's football program than we are confident we can put together a winning product at the end.
JJ: So when you helped Coach Greenwood with St. Christopher's here in Sarnia, is that when you first caught the coaching bug?
VF: He gave me some autonomy when I was done my playing career. I was doing some teaching at the school at the time. He taught me about preparation, never to go into any situation blind, you always have to outwork your opponents. I just got a passion and addiction for it and have been working at it ever since.
