KINGSTON, ON - Guiding the Golden Bears to a 6-2 conference record and a spot in the 2023 Hardy Cup, Bears Football head coach Chris Morris was named the Frank Tindall Trophy recipient as U SPORTS Coach of the Year on Thursday night. 

It is the first time Morris has earned this award, and the third time a Bears coach has received this distinction — joining Jerry Friesen in 2004, and Jim Donlevy in 1971. 

Other U SPORTS major award winners include Montréal Carabins quarterback Jonathan Sénécal was named the winner of the Hec Crighton Trophy as the most outstanding player in U SPORTS football; Montreal linebacker Harold Miessan, who won the Presidents' Trophy (most outstanding standup defensive player); UBC tackle Theo Benedet, who took home the J.P. Metras Trophy (most outstanding down lineman); Laval linebacker Justin Cloutier, who won the Peter Gorman Trophy for rookie of the year; and Mark Rauhaus of Manitoba, who won the Russ Jackson Award for his excellence in football, academics and community service.

Golden Bears Matthew Peterson (RB and Daniel Shin (C) were also named first team U SPORTS All-Canadians on Thursday, with Matthew Ljuden (G) and Jonathan Giustini (S) earning a spot on the second team. 

Morris lead the Bears to their first winning season since 2005, and a spot in the Hardy Cup for the first time since 2010. 

It is the first U SPORTS Coach of the Year Award for Morris, who has now led the Bears to three playoff appearances in the last four seasons. The 2023 iteration of the Bears finished second in Canada West with a 6-2 record, and finished the season ranked inside the U SPORTS Top 10 for seven consecutive weeks.

"Chris leads by example and he has worked tirelessly for the betterment of the University of Alberta's football program and our student-athletes. It is very gratifying to see Chris recognized with the Canada West Coach of the Year award, but even more so to see the collective efforts of the entire program be rewarded with strong on-field results this season." - Katie Spriggs, University of Alberta Interim Director of Athletics

First Team All-Canadians

Offence
 

Second Team All-Canadians

Offence
 

Pos	Name	University	Year	Hometown	Academic Program
QB	Taylor Elgersma	Laurier	3	London, Ont.	Kinesiology
RB	Malcolm Bussey	StFX	2	Hammonds Plains, N.S.	Arts
RB	Amlicar Polk	Ottawa	5	Dundas, Ont.	General Studies
REC	Raidan Thorne	Laurier	3	Waterloo, Ont.	Arts
REC	Kaseem Ferdinand	Carleton	3	Ottawa, Ont.	Global Law
REC	Ben Harrington	StFX	3	Dartmouth, N.S.	Business Admin.
REC	Hassane Dosso	Montréal	3	Thetford Mines, Que.	Social Work (cert.)
C	Ryan Berta	Queen's	4	Hamilton, Ont.	History
G	Matthew Ljuden	Alberta	2	Grande Prairie, Alta.	Business
G	Evan Floren	Queen's	4	Ancaster, Ont.	Environmental Science
T	Giovanni Manu	UBC	4	Pitt Meadows, B.C.	Arts
T	Nathan Dumoulin-Duguay	Laval	2	Rimouski, Que.	Sport Administration
Util	Niklas Henning	Queen's	2	Milton, Ont.	Geology

 
Defence
 

Pos	Athlete	University	Year	Hometown	Academic Program
DT	Muftah Ageli	Windsor	3	Windsor, Ont.	Criminology
DT	Kyle Samson	UBC	4	Hamilton, Ont.	Business
DE	Kolade Amusan	Windsor	4	Woodbury, Minn.	M.B.A.
DE	George Idoko	Saskatchewan	4	Calgary, Alta.	Arts & Sciences
LB	Nicky Farinaccio	Montréal	3	Montreal, Que.	Criminology
LB	Max Charbonneau	Ottawa	5	Ottawa, Ont.	General Studies
LB	Lourenz Bowers-Kane	Western	3	Dartmouth, N.S.	King's College
S	Jonathan Giustini	Alberta	4	Calgary, Alta.	Business
DB	Cristophe Beaulieu	Laval	3	Blainville, Que	Business
DB	Daniel Bell	Mount Allison	4	Saint John, N.B.	Psychology
CB	Jassin States-McClean	Saint Mary's	5	Halifax, N.S.	Arts
CB	Louis Lavaud	Carleton	3	Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.	Cognitive Science

 
Special Teams
 

P	Michael Horvat	McMaster	2	Stoney Creek, Ont.	Kinesiology
PK	Vincent Blanchard	Laval	4	Quebec City, Que.	Free Studies
RET	Guillaume Cauchon	Laval	1	St-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Que	Law
R/C	Skyler Griffith	UBC	3	Winnipeg, MB	Kinesiology