Dexter Janke learned from the best in the Canadian Football League in playing in two Grey Cup games with the Calgary Stampeders and hoisting the Cup in 2019 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Those are lessons he aims to impart as the new head coach of the Westshore Rebels of the sa国际传媒 Football Conference.
“What I learned from Mike O’Shea, John Hufnagel and Dave Dickenson was discipline first and foremost. You can build anything from there,” said Janke.
The Rebels lost to the Okanagan Sun in the BCFC championship game two weeks ago. The Sun went on to dispatch the Ontario champion St. Clair Saints in the national semi- final and are preparing to meet the Prairie-champion and host Regina Thunder in the Canadian Bowl junior football championship game on Saturday. Janke’s goal is to get the Rebels there next season and beyond.
“That’s the plan. We understand what it takes to get to the league final and what that feels like. We have a solid group returning. Now it’s a matter of filling the holes and making the improvements to take that next step,” said Janke. Toward that end, recruiting is a particular strength of Janke’s because of the breadth of connections he has built across the country in a versatile playing career that saw the Edmonton native go from being a running back with the University Saskatchewan Huskies to a defensive back and special-teams player with the Sun in the BCFC and then the same as a pro in the CFL with the Stampeders and Blue Bombers.
“I know a lot of people in football, who understand what it’s about, and that helps with finding the right talent in recruiting,” said Janke.
Janke, 30, knows the Rebels organization well as he steps up from being assistant coach to the top job, replacing Shane Beatty, who is moving back to the Interior. “I owe a lot to Shane,” said Janke. Janke has been associated with the Rebels staff since 2016 and helped out when he could even during his CFL playing career.
“He knows our program and will hit the ground running and his contacts in the game from his pro career gives him a good handle in terms of what’s out there in recruiting young post-high school football players,” said Rebels president Rob Levold.
Janke will also take on the role of assistant general manager to GM Roger Wade.
“I want to take young individuals and help prepare them in a supportive and healthy environment for the next level, in not only football, but in their lives,” said Janke.
Janke also competed for sa国际传媒 in bobsled on the World Cup circuit as the side brakeman. He thought about pursuing the four-year quadrennial to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics but instead took the opportunity to join the Blue Bombers in 2019.
