Kyle Graves (born October 12, 1989) is the
offensive coordinator for the
Mount Allison Mounties
The Mount Allison Mounties are the varsity athletic teams that represent Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.
The Mounties sports teams play their matches at Alumni Field which seats 2,500.
Athletics and recreations
Th ...
of
U Sports 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 confe ...
. He is a former professional
Canadian football
Canadian football () is a 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 scoring area ( ...
wide receiver who played for five years in the
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
. He was signed as an
undrafted free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
by the
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...
after being bypassed in the
2012 CFL Draft
The 2012 CFL Draft took place on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET on TSN. 45 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The Calgary Stamped ...
. He played
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
punter for the
Acadia Axemen
The Acadia Axemen and Axewomen are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. The on-campus sports facilities used by Axemen teams include Raymond Field for various field sports and A ...
in
Canadian Interuniversity Sport 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 conf ...
from 2008 to 2012.
[CIS Football Player Profile: Kyle Graves, Acadia Axemen](_blank)
/ref>
University career
Graves was recruited by the Acadia Axemen
The Acadia Axemen and Axewomen are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. The on-campus sports facilities used by Axemen teams include Raymond Field for various field sports and A ...
and head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
Jeff Cummins in 2008 to play 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 ...
for their football program. He played primarily as a back-up quarterback in 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
and 2009, playing behind incumbent starter, Keith Lockwood. In 2010, he became the team's starting quarterback, completing 110 passes out of 203 attempts (54.2%) for 1,120 yards for six touchdowns and ten interceptions. Graves also became the team's punter that year, with 61 punts and a 34.5-yard average. The team improved upon their 2-6 record in 2009 and finished 4-4 with a loss to the Saint Mary's Huskies in the Loney Bowl.
The 2011 season was a breakout year for Graves and the Axemen as he led the team to a 7-1 record (the best Acadia record in over 25 years) and led them to the first Jewett Trophy
The Jewett Trophy is a Canadian sports trophy, in honour of Dr. B. L. Jewett, presented annually to the winner of the Atlantic University Sport Football Conference of U Sports.
Unlike the other three conference championship games, the game in whi ...
since 2006. The season ended with a defeat in the Uteck Bowl
The Uteck Bowl is one of the two semifinal bowls of U Sports football, Canada's national competition for university teams that play Canadian football. It is held in the easternmost of the two semifinal venues. The Uteck Bowl champion moves on to f ...
in Moncton Stadium
Medavie Blue Cross Stadium (french: Stade Croix-Bleue Medavie), formerly Moncton Stadium (french: Stade Moncton), is a track and field stadium on the campus of the Université de Moncton in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, built to host the IAAF 201 ...
to Kyle Quinlan
Kyle Quinlan (born February 10, 1989) is a former college football quarterback and formerly the co- offensive coordinator for the McMaster Marauders in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports football. He played collegiately with t ...
's McMaster Marauders
The McMaster Marauders are the athletic teams that represent McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Athletics at McMaster is currently managed by the university's student affairs, under their athletics & recreation department. The unive ...
, who would go on to win the 47th Vanier Cup
The 2011 Vanier Cup, the 47th edition of the Canadian university football championship, took place on Friday, November 25, 2011 at BC Place in Vancouver.https://www.tsn.ca/cis/story/?id=342308 Naylor: '11 Vanier Cup to join Grey Cup week in Vanc ...
. In regular season play, he completed 121 of 204 pass attempts (59.3%) for 1,856 yards with 17 passing touchdowns to five interceptions. He also had 32 carries for 179 yards and a rushing touchdown as well as 64 punts with a 36.7-yard average. At season's end, he was named the AUS Most Valuable Player and a 2011 AUS All-star at quarterback and punter.
Graves led the Axemen to a 7-1 record in 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
and a second consecutive Loney Bowl championship, before losing to 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 co ...
in the Uteck Bowl. He was named a first-team All-Canadian at punter after leading the AUS with a 40.3-yard punting average.[AMJ Campbell All-Canadian banquet: All-Canadian teams announced](_blank)
/ref> He was again named the AUS MVP and was also named a second-team All-Canadian at quarterback that year. In 2012, he threw for 2,012 yards with 14 passing touchdowns to four interceptions and completed 57.1% of his passes.[Montreal Alouettes bio](_blank)
/ref>
He finished his CIS football career as Acadia's third all-time leading passer with 5,433 yards, finished second in pass completions with 418, and fourth in passing touchdowns with 39.
Professional career
Montreal Alouettes
After going being bypassed in the 2012 CFL Draft
The 2012 CFL Draft took place on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET on TSN. 45 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The Calgary Stamped ...
, Graves was signed by the Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...
on May 9, 2012. He was signed shortly after the team signed Kyle Quinlan, another Canadian quarterback, with both players being brought to training camp to compete as quarterbacks. Graves was released shortly after the Alouettes second pre-season game and returned to Acadia to play his fifth and final year of college eligibility.
Graves re-signed with the Alouettes on February 6, 2013, but was cut during training camp in June that year. He re-joined the Alouettes on August 26, 2013 and dressed for his first game on September 21, 2013 in Touchdown Atlantic
Touchdown Atlantic (French: ''Touché Atlantique'') is a series of neutral site Canadian Football League games played in the maritime provinces of Canada.
In 2003, the league had struck a committee to examine the feasibility of adding a tenth t ...
in Moncton Stadium
Medavie Blue Cross Stadium (french: Stade Croix-Bleue Medavie), formerly Moncton Stadium (french: Stade Moncton), is a track and field stadium on the campus of the Université de Moncton in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, built to host the IAAF 201 ...
, the same stadium he played in the Uteck Bowl
The Uteck Bowl is one of the two semifinal bowls of U Sports football, Canada's national competition for university teams that play Canadian football. It is held in the easternmost of the two semifinal venues. The Uteck Bowl champion moves on to f ...
in 2011. In total, he dressed for six games in 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
as a reserve wide receiver, wearing number 88.
In 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
, he dressed for 10 regular season games and two post-season games for the Alouettes as a back-up receiver, while also switching to number 81. He was on the team's injured reserve with a knee injury for most of the 2015 season, while being a healthy scratch for two games. In 2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
, he dressed in all 18 regular season games as the team's field goal holder. He had his first reception in a game against the Ottawa Redblacks
The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Starting ...
on June 30, 2016 and finished the year with two catches for 19 yards.[Hebert, Boulay, Graves flock back to Als](_blank)
/ref> He also saw duty as the team's back-up punter that year, recording four punts with a 36.8-yard average.
On February 13, 2017, one day before free agency, Graves signed a two-year contract extension with the Alouettes. However, he was released on April 10, 2017.[2017 CFL transactions](_blank)
/ref>
Toronto Argonauts
On April 21, 2017, it was announced that Graves had signed with the Toronto Argonauts. He made the team following training camp and played in the first four games of the season, but after being relegated to the practice roster, he was eventually released on August 7, 2017.
Coaching career
Acadia Axemen
Graves began his coaching career with his alma mater, the Acadia Axemen
The Acadia Axemen and Axewomen are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. The on-campus sports facilities used by Axemen teams include Raymond Field for various field sports and A ...
, where he served as the co-offensive coordinator.
Mount Allison Mounties
For the 2019 U Sports football season
The 2019 U Sports football season began on August 23, 2019 with the Concordia Stingers hosting the Montreal Carabins in Montreal, Quebec. The Atlantic University Sport conference started play the following day and the Ontario University Athletic ...
, Graves joined the Mount Allison Mounties
The Mount Allison Mounties are the varsity athletic teams that represent Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.
The Mounties sports teams play their matches at Alumni Field which seats 2,500.
Athletics and recreations
Th ...
as the team's offensive coordinator.
References
External links
Mount Allison bio
Montreal Alouettes bio
Toronto Argonauts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Kyle
1989 births
Living people
Players of Canadian football from Ontario
Canadian football punters
Canadian football quarterbacks
Canadian football wide receivers
Montreal Alouettes players
Toronto Argonauts players
Acadia Axemen football players
Sportspeople from Barrie