David Albert Skrien (April 4, 1929 – November 30, 2010) was a
Canadian Football League player and coach.
Skrien graduated from Morris High School (1946) and
Minnesota (1950) where he played
fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to:
Sports
* A position in various kinds of football, including:
** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position
** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...
and
linebacker. He played two seasons in the CFL before becoming a coach.
Skrien's first coaching job was at
Albert Lea High School
Albert Lea is a city in Freeborn County, in southern Minnesota. It is the county seat. Its population was 18,492 at the 2020 census.
The city is at the junction of Interstates 35 and 90, about south of the Twin Cities. It is on the shore ...
where he spent one season as head coach. From there he served as an assistant at
Ball State
Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers and Indianapolis.
On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, industrialists and founders of the Ball C ...
and
Minnesota before returning to the CFL as the
BC Lions backfield coach in 1959. Skrien was elevated to the Lions' head coaching position during the 1961 season after an 0–6–1 start. In his six seasons as the Lions head coach, Skrien's teams had a record of 42–47–5 and played in two
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...
Games, playing in Vancouver but losing to Hamilton in 1963 (BC's first Grey Cup appearance), and then winning the 1964 Grey Cup (
52nd) by defeating Hamilton in Toronto. He also won the
Annis Stukus Trophy in 1963 as the CFL coach of the year. With journalist Dick Beddoes, he wrote the book "Countdown to Grey Cup" which chronicled the 1964 championship season. Skrien was fired in 1967 after an 0–5 start.
After one season as an assistant coach at
Boise State College, Skrien returned to the CFL as an assistant coach with the
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...
. When head coach
Neill Armstrong left the Eskimos at the end of the season, management decided to promote the less experienced
Ray Jauch to the head coaching position and Skrien did not return to Edmonton.
On December 29, 1970, Skrien was hired by the
Saskatchewan Roughriders to replace head coach
Eagle Keys
Eagle Keys (December 4, 1923 – December 20, 2012) was a Canadian football player and coach. He is currently fifth all-time in regular season wins with 131 as a head coach in the Canadian Football League. He was inducted into the Canadian Foo ...
. In his two seasons in Regina, the Roughriders had a 16–14–1 record and made the
1972 Grey Cup
The 60th Grey Cup was played on December 3, 1972, before 33,993 fans at the Ivor Wynne Stadium at Hamilton. It was the last Grey Cup to be played in December until 2021, which, coincidentally, was also held in Hamilton. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats d ...
. Skrien resigned following the 1972 season.
In 1975, Skrien was hired by former CFL coach and executive
Leo Cahill
Leo Cahill (July 30, 1928 – February 15, 2018) was an American head coach and general manager in the Canadian Football League, much of it spent with the Toronto Argonauts.
Early life
Cahill was born on July 30, 1928 in Utica, Illinois and lat ...
to coach the offensive backfield of the
Memphis Southmen, which included
Larry Csonka
Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Mem ...
and
Jim Kiick
James Forrest Kiick (; August 9, 1946 – June 20, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a running back. He played for the Miami Dolphins in the American Football League (AFL) from 1968 to 1969 and in the National Footba ...
. After the
World Football League
The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...
folded, Skiren returned to his native Minnesota to coach
Golden Valley Lutheran College Golden Valley Lutheran College was founded as the Lutheran Bible Institute. The LBI was a two-year degree-granting Lutheranism, Lutheran educational institution established in 1919 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota. It moved to Minneapol ...
. One of his players at GVLC was Nelson Simpson, who later wrestled under the name
Nikita Koloff. In 1988, Skiren returned to his alma mater Minnesota as a football administrative assistant and recruiting coordinator. He retired after the 1995 season, but remained involved with Golden Gophers football.
Death
Skrien died in a nursing home in Mound, Minnesota, on November 30, 2010, due to complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 81 years old.
Head coaching record
CFL
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skrien, Dave
1929 births
2010 deaths
American football fullbacks
American football linebackers
American players of Canadian football
BC Lions coaches
Ball State Cardinals football coaches
Boise State Broncos football coaches
Edmonton Elks coaches
Memphis Southmen coaches
Minnesota Golden Gophers football coaches
Minnesota Golden Gophers football players
Saskatchewan Roughriders coaches
Saskatchewan Roughriders players
Winnipeg Blue Bombers players
High school football coaches in Minnesota
People from Morris, Minnesota
Players of American football from Minnesota
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
Neurological disease deaths in Minnesota