EDMONTON – Adding another coach with a championship resume to the locker room, Golden Bears Football has named Robert Payne their next defensive coordinator. 

Payne joins the Bears with over a decade of experience coaching at both the U SPORTS and CFL levels, having spent the last two seasons as the special teams coordinator at the University of Saskatchewan, helping the Huskies capture the Hardy Cup and Mitchell Bowl in 2025. 

"The Golden Bears are a program with a clear direction and high standards, led by Coach Bone, whose national success as a player and coach reflects the culture of winning he brought to the University of Alberta," said Payne. "I'm excited to work with him and move the program forward. I'm also grateful to Coach Scott Flory, Shannon Chinn, Adrienne Healey, the entire support staff at the UofS, and the Saskatchewan community for the trust and support they've shown me the last two years."

Payne has been a coordinator on both sides of the ball, including being the DC with Champlain College (2015-2017), the offensive coordinator with Saint Mary's (2019-2020), and receivers coach at McGill (2022). At Champlain, his defensive unit ranked first against both the run and pass, first in takeaways, and first in interceptions. 

Along with his collegiate coaching background, Payne was the running backs coach with the Hamilton Tiger Cats in 2023 and Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2021, as well as a defensive backs coach with the Edmonton Elks in 2018. He was also the co-offensive coordinator and QB coach for Team Canada U20 at the 2024 IFAF World Championship in Edmonton. 

During his time at the UofS, the Huskies boasted arguably the best special teams unit in Canada West, leading the conference in punt return yards, punt return yards allowed, and ranking second in field goal percentage. 

"Rob has a proven track record of coaching winning football at the U SPORTS level, which was a key factor in his hiring. He understands what it takes to build and lead a strong defence, and his recent success with the Huskies speaks for itself" said head coach Stevenson Bone. "Recruiting is critical in today's game, and Rob has shown he can do that at a high level. We think very highly of him and are excited to have him join us in the Evergreen and Gold." 

In addition to team success, Payne has also coached and developed multiple high impact student-athletes, including a President's Trophy winner, a First Team All Canadian, and multiple CFL signings.