PLAYER #120 - FRANK CLAIR (1950-54)

The fact the stadium in Ottawa is called Frank Clair Stadium is no coincidence. Frank Clair is the CFL's all-time winningest coach with 147 regular season wins and another 27 playoff victories, including five Grey Cup triumphs.

The majority of this success occurred in the nation's capital with the Rough Riders in the 1960's, where Clair combined with Hall-of-Fame greats like Jackson, Stewart, Thelen and Tucker to produce one of the CFL's all-time greatest teams.

But Clair got his start with the Argonauts in 1950, the first coach in the team's history to play with Americans in the lineup. An unlikely looking football man, Clair was "a tall chap, so scholarly behind horn-rimmed glasses that he resembled a college professor about to lecture a zoology class on the sex life of the African tsetse fly", according to former CHCH sportscaster Dick Beddoes.

Because of his appearance, Clair earned the nickname "The Professor". While it may have been misguided, the name did have some merit, as Clair tried to outthink his opponents instead to overpower them, becoming one of the first coaches to truly utilize game films to his advantage.

"When he was viewing films, he always referred to you by number," said ex-Argo Fred Black, who played under Clair for five seasons. "He'd never say, 'Black, you made a mistake here'. It was, '#53 missed a block here'. And Pete Bennett was always #64 and Dick Shatto was always #88 (he later became #22). Everybody knew who it was, but he never mentioned names. And for every negative thing he had to say about you in the movies, he'd point out something good within three or four plays."

The preparation that he detailed during the week was emphasized on game day, when he delivered his "concentration" speech, according to Don "Shanty" McKenzie.

"I want you to concentrate on what you have to do to get ready for the game," Clair would say. "When we get to the park we'll go right out on the field and do calisthenics. Then we'll go in the dressing room for 10 minutes. On the bus, I want you to concentrate on the job you've got ahead. Think of who you're playing against. Think of the game plan and just concentrate on what you have to do. I don't want anybody talking. Just be quiet - and think."

Clair's strategy usually worked, as his Argo teams thought and played their way to a pair of Grey Cup victories in 1950 and 1952. He moved over to the Rough Riders in 1956, whom he coached until 1969, and then was promoted into upper management, where he also stayed for many years.

In the 1980's, Clair returned to the Argos during the Sazio regime as the team's head scout, playing an active role in the 1983 Grey Cup victory, the squad's first since he himself was head coach. His accomplishments with both the Argos and Rough Riders earned him much-deserved induction into the CFL Hall-of-Fame as a builder in 1981.


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