York University Men's Football

Craney has made a name for himself on the international scene and has been on the Team Canada coaching staff since 2009. This past summer as head coach he led the junior national team to the gold medal at the 2016 International Federation of American Football (IFAF) U19 world championships in Harbin, China, with a dominant 24-6 victory over the United States in the final. The event marked the second straight time he was the head coach of the junior national team as he also guided the squad to a silver-medal finish in 2014 in Kuwait.   His other stints with the U19 team included serving as the defensive coordinator in 2012 and 2009, winning gold and silver medals, respectively, at the world championships, and coaching at seven straight International Bowls in Texas (2010-16).   He was also been part of the coaching staffs for seven consecutive East West Bowls (2009-15).   Craney came to York from Concordia University, where he spent seven seasons as the defensive coordinator and three before that as the defensive line coach. While there, the Stingers were a perennial top 10 team and the defence was at or near the top of all statistical categories in Quebec and Canada.   Under his guidance on defence, Craneys student-athletes won four Presidents Trophies, awarded to the nations top defensive player, and one J.P. Metras Trophy as the top down lineman in the CIS. One of those Presidents Trophies winners was Cory Greenwood, who went on to play in the National Football League (NFL) with the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions and is now a starting linebacker with the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League (CFL). In addition, 13 first-team all-Canadian awards were given to defensive players under his direction.   A native of Montreal, Craney joined Concordias coaching staff after a three-year stint as the defensive coordinator at Vanier College. Throughout his coaching career, which has spanned nearly two decades, he has also served as a guest coach at the University of Michigan Football School and University of Nebraska in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and with several teams in the Canadian Football League (CFL).    Craney and his wife, Cara, are the proud parents of five children. Their eldest daughter, Madison, is a third-year member of the synchronized swimming team at the University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio and their son, Noah, is a rookie quarterback with the Vanier College Cheetahs in Montreal, while back home Kennedy is in 12 grade, Ethan is in seventh and Quinn is in senior kindergarten.Warren Craney

Dexter Janke was named the 12th head coach in York Lions football program history on Jan. 22, 2024. In his first season at the helm, Janke led his team to their first Red and Blue Bowl victory since 2019, and their first ever win at York Lions Stadium on in Week 7 vs. Waterloo. The Lions playoff hopes came down to the final game of the season, a heartbreaking 24-21 loss to McMaster, setting the tone for an upward trajectory for the program. Janke comes to York after spending the previous four seasons in various roles with the Westshore Rebels of the British Columbia Football Conference (BCFC), an arm of the Canadian Junior Football League. As head coach in 2023, he guided Westshore to a perfect 10-0 season and a BCFC title, leading and an appearence in the Canadian Bowl, Canada's junior football championship. Janke helped orchestrate a remarkable turnaround of the Rebels program, joining the staff in 2019 ahead of the cancelled 2020 campaign. In 2021, the Rebels went just 1-7 2021 season then went 7-3 in 2022 before their run to the Canadian championship in 2023. The 31-year-old native of Edmonton played U SPORTS football with the Saskatchewan Huskies of Canada West, before being drafted in the fifth round, 44th overall in the 2015 CFL Draft by the Calgary Stampeders. Janke spent four seasons with Calgary (2015-18) before playing his final season with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2019, where he won his lone Grey Cup. Janke is the older brother of Lions football alumnus Jacob Janke (2015-19), the 2019 recipient of the Russ Jackson Award, given to the U SPORTS football player best exemplifying the attributes of academic achievement, football skill and citizenship. 

Britt graduated from the York University Athletic Therapy program in 2015 and became a Certified Athletic Therapist that year. She has been fortunate to work multiple seasons with the Toronto Argonauts and had a locum working closely with Dr. Zarnett, who is York Lions Team Orthopedic surgeon.  Britt worked at the Gorman Shore Sport Injury Clinic immediately post-certification and is currently our Head Therapist for Men’s Football and Outdoor Sport Supervisor.  Britt has maintained her advanced training and certification as a First Responder, and has also taken post-graduate courses in the areas of soft tissue release and manual therapy.  Britt is also a past Bryce M. Taylor award winner presented to a graduating female athlete who as made outstanding contributions to interuniversity sport, from when she played University field hockey.

Russ Herrington was named the head coach of the Lions men’s hockey team in 2017 after two seasons as an assistant with the program. The 2025-26 campaign will mark Herrington's ninth behind the York bench Upon puck drop of the 2024-25 season opener, Herrington became the second-longest tenured head coach in program history. He will pass the legendary Bill Purcell, who led the Lions for seven seasons from 1965-66 through 1971-72. The 2024-25 season was a step forward for the program, as they more than doubled their win total year-over-year and surrendered 27 fewer goals. Four of their seven wins came against playoff teams: Windsor, Ontario Tech, Waterloo, UQTR   Herrington is also the head coach of the Canadian national para hockey team, a role he has held since September 2022, after joining the team as an assistant in 2017. He has won four medals in as many World Para Hockey Championships on the Canadian staff. He won a gold in 2017 as an assistant and earned a pair of silver medals in 2019 and 2021. Herrington grabbed his first gold medal as head coach in 2024 in Calgary. Just prior to being named head coach, he served as an assistant for Canada at the 2022 Winter Paralymic Games in Beijing, China, where he won a silver medal.   Prior to joining the Lions coaching staff, Herrington spent 12 seasons as a junior A head coach in Thornhill, Markham and Streetsville. He won more than 300 games in that span, was a two-time all-star coach and the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) coach of the year in 2003. He guided the Markham Waxers to the 2003 OJHL South Division championship, the team’s first division title in 20 years, and reached the 2006 RBC Cup with the Streetsville Derbys.   He was also an AAA head coach for eight years with the York Simcoe Express and the South Central Coyotes, and throughout his coaching career has seen more than 100 players graduate to the OHL, CIS, NCAA and professional ranks.   As a player, Herrington spent four seasons with the Western Mustangs (1990-93) and went on to a free agent tryout with the Toronto Maple Leafs and one season with the South Carolina Stingrays in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL).   He and his wife, Janice, have two children. Daughter, Regan, spent four seasons with the Acadia Axewomen women’s volleyball team and was a four-time academic all-Canadian and two-time AUS conference and championship all-star. His son, Griffin, also attended Acadia.

Mackenzie Chapman returns to the Lions in 2021 to join the team’s coaching staff after the former Lion enjoyed a five-year career in various on-field positions for the squad.   Chapman first joined the Lions in 2013 and played for two years before returning in 2017. He has previously played on the defensive line and then transitioned to become the team’s starting long snapper. In his graduating year, Chapman took home the 2019 Nobby Wirkowski Football Award.  

Knox was officially hired as the Lions defensive coordinator on March 28, 2024. His first year with the team saw a much improved defence, which cut its points against by 59% year-over-year. Knox's unit lead the OUA in tackles per game (53.0), as well as tied for second-most in the OUA in fumble recoveries (7). York’s 424 total tackles on the season also lead the OUA. He also helped develop and two of the top three tacklers in the country in linebackers Brody Clark and Peyton Ryder, who finished first and third in U SPORTS in tackles, respectively  A Toronto native Knox boasts over three decades of experience in U SPORTS, both as a player and coach. He was the defensive coordinator for the McMaster Marauders from 2006-12, winning both a Yates Cup and a Vanier Cup in 2011. After serving a year in the same position with the Toronto Varsity Blues in 2013, he returned to McMaster in 2014, and came back again to coach for them from 2016-2018 after spending 2015 elsewhere. Before joining the Lions in 2024, he also spent a year with the Alberta University Golden Bears as the defensive coordinator in 2019.  Knox assumed the role of linebackers coach with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL in 2015, and later became the defensive backs coach for the Ottawa REDBLACKS in 2021.  In his playing career, Knox was a member of the Laurier Golden Hawks as a defensive back, winning a Vanier Cup in 1991. He was selected in the sixth round, 47th overall by the Calgary Stampeders in 1992, and bookended his career with Grey Cup championships in 1992 and 1998. A1994 CFL All-Star, he registered 242 tackles, 22 interceptions, eight fumble recoveries and one touchdown over his seven CFL seasons, all spent with the Stampeders.

Norwell has been the assistant head coach and linebackers coach for the York football program since 2010.   In 2015 he was the recipient of the Gino Fracas Award as CIS assistant coach of the year and was also named the OUA volunteer coach of the year.   Norwell worked with Team Ontario for two years, serving as the defensive line coach in 2011 and the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach in 2012. Prior to joining the coaching staff at York, he spent 10 years as the defensive coordinator at Dr. G.W. Williams Secondary School in Aurora, Ont., and has also worked as a guest coach with Concordia University and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL).   Norwell played linebacker at John Abbott College in Montreal and won the Bol dOr in 1977. He went on to play as a linebacker with the Calgary Colts in the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL).   In addition to coaching with the Lions, he works full time in Tennessee as the president of Remington Industries, a position he has held since 2012.