Benoit Groulx (born March 6, 1985 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) is a former

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and was an offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the

Bishop's Gaiters The Bishop's Gaiters is the men's and women's athletic teams that represent Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The name Gaiter is a nickname used to refer to garments worn over the shoe and lower pants leg, worn by Anglican bishops ...

of the

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Can ...

. He played five years as a quarterback in

CIS football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...

for the

Laval Rouge et Or The Laval Rouge et Or (, ''Red and Gold'') are the athletic teams that represent Université Laval, located in Quebec City, Quebec. Home games are all held in the PEPS indoor and outdoor sports facilities. Varsity teams Laval Rouge et Or teams c ...

. Groulx grew up in Montreal. He attended the

Cégep du Vieux Montréal Cégep du Vieux Montréal is a CEGEP (Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel, or College of General and Vocational Education) located at 255 Ontario Street East, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The College of General and Vocational Edu ...

and played for the Vieux Montréal Spartiates winning the Bol D'or 3 times and twice being named

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

in the

CEGEP A CEGEP ( or ; ), also written cégep, CÉGEP and cegep, is a publicly funded college providing technical, academic, vocational or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the province of Quebec's education system. A loanword from French, i ...

AAA league, before enrolling at

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...

to study sports administration.

University football

Though a few told him that he was too short, too slow, and had too little arm strength to compete at the university level, Groulx quickly impressed Laval head coach

Glen Constantin Glen Constantin (born December 23, 1964) is the current head coach of the Université Laval football team, the Laval Rouge et Or, a position he has held since 2001. He has won 11 Vanier Cups with the team, including 10 as head coach which is the ...

at training camp. His performance in the regular season was equally impressive. Starting the season as a back-up, he came off the bench near the end of the week 2 game, when veteran William Leclerc was injured and again replaced Leclerc in week 3 this time mid-way through the second quarter and led a 61 to 15 victory over

. His performance earned him the

Quebec University Football League The Quebec University Football League was the Canadian football conference for Quebec universities who participate in CIS football until the completion of the 2010 football season. It has since been renamed Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec foo ...

offensive player of the week honours in week 3 and the starting quarterback position. Groulx ended the regular season playing in 5 games with 1317 yards, 13 touchdowns, five interceptions, and 90 completions out of 132 passes, the highest completion percentage in the 2005 CIS football season. He also earned CIS offensive player of week 5 and QUFL player of the week honours for the

Dunsmore Cup The Dunsmore Cup (french: Coupe Dunsmore) is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the university-level football competition conducted by Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), the governing body for all student sport ...

semi-finals 72–14 win over the

Sherbrooke Vert et Or The Sherbrooke Vert & Or ("Sherbrooke Green & Gold") is the athletic teams that represent the Université de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The team plays in Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec ( French for "Quebec Student Sports Netw ...

. Groulx returned for his second season and equalled his 2005 season 68 percent completion average to again lead the nation with 170 completions in 250 passes for 2,422 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions over the 8 games of the regular season. His 2,422 yard passing performance set a new QUFL single season record and he was named the

Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy The Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy is a Canadian football award recognizing the most outstanding football player of the Quebec Student Sport Federation (RESQ) The trophy was originally presented to the player who best exemplified skill, sportsmanshi ...

winner as the most outstanding player in the Quebec conference and nominee for the national

Hec Crighton Trophy The Hec Crighton Trophy (sometimes referred to as the Hec Crighton Award) is awarded annually to the most outstanding Canadian football player in U Sports. The trophy is named after the late Hec Crighton - teacher, coach, referee, and author of th ...

. Groulx and the Rouge et Or went on to complete the year without a loss to win the 2006

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanier, ...

. On January 14, 2010, Groulx was announced as the new offensive coordinator for the

. Regular Season Statistics

References

* * * * * http://www.sirc.ca/news_view.cfm?id=24853 * http://www.universitysport.ca/e/story_detail.cfm?id=13178 * http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081120.wspt_cis20/GSStory/GlobeSportsFootball/home * https://web.archive.org/web/20081206081325/http://www.universitysport.ca/e/football/story_detail.cfm?id=13200 * https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=capress-ftbl_cis_quebec_awards&prov=capress&type=lgns {{DEFAULTSORT:Groulx, Benoit 1985 births Living people Canadian football people from Montreal Players of Canadian football from Quebec Canadian football quarterbacks Laval Rouge et Or football players