# Simon Fraser Red Leafs football

The Simon Fraser Red Leafs football team represented Simon Fraser University since the athletic department's inception in 1965 until 2022. The team played by American rules while they competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics from 1965 to 2001 against other American teams. Along with other SFU teams, the football program transferred to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (now U Sports) and thereby switched to playing Canadian football against Canadian University teams in 2002. While playing in the CIS, SFU won its first and only Hardy Trophy conference championship in 2003 while qualifying for the playoffs twice. After playing eight seasons in the Canada West Conference of the CIS, the football team began competing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference of NCAA Division II in 2010, and started played the American format of football again. Kristie Elliott became the first Canadian woman to play, and to score, in an NCAA football game, on September 11, 2021, as a kicker for the team. After the GNAC dropped football after the 2021 season, SFU and the other two GNAC members that still sponsored the sport became football-only members of the Lone Star Conference. After the 2022 season, it was announced on April 4, 2023, that football would be dropped from the school after it was previously announced the Lone Star Conference was ending its affiliation with Simon Fraser after the 2023–24 season.
The team previously used the names "Clansmen" and "Clan;" those names were retired in 2020. The new nickname "Red Leafs" was announced in September 2022.

## Rivalry

The team had maintained a cross-town rivalry with the Vancouver-based University of British Columbia Thunderbirds as they are also the only two universities in British Columbia that field football teams. Since 1967, the two teams have competed in the Shrum Bowl, an annual game played at alternating venues with alternating rules. SFU holds a 17–16–1 series lead after winning in three consecutive years from 2008 to 2010 to claim the lead. Due to the two schools playing in two different leagues, the scheduling of these games has often been difficult, with no game being played from 2011 to 2021. The Shrum Bowl was revived and played again on December 2, 2022, where UBC defeated SFU 18-17 under American rules.

## Season results

| Year | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Highest$^#$ | Final$^°$ |
| National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) (1965–2001) ||||||||
| Canada West (CIS) (2002–2009) ||||||||
| 2002 | Chris Beaton | 2–6 | | 6th | | NR | NR |
| 2003 | Chris Beaton | 5–3 | | 2nd | W Canada West semi-final W Hardy Trophy L Uteck Bowl | 8 | 8 |
| 2004 | Chris Beaton | 3–5 | | 6th | | 6 | NR |
| 2005 | Chris Beaton | 0–7–1 | | 7th | | NR | NR |
| 2006 | Frank Boehres | 0–7–1 | | 7th | | NR | NR |
| 2007 | Dave Johnson | 0–8 | | 7th | | NR | NR |
| 2008 | Dave Johnson | 5–3 | | 4th | W Canada West semi-final L Hardy Trophy | 7 | 8 |
| 2009 | Dave Johnson | 1–6 (*) | | 7th | | 7 | NR |
| CIS: | CIS: | 16–47–2 | | | | | |
| Great Northwest (NCAA Division II) (2010–2021) ||||||||
| 2010 | Dave Johnson | 1–9 (0–9 NCAA) | 0–8 | 5th | | NR | NR |
| 2011 | Dave Johnson | 3–7 | 2–6 | 4th | | NR | NR |
| 2012 | Dave Johnson | 5–6 | 4–6 | 4th | | NR | NR |
| 2013 | Dave Johnson | 3–7 | 3–7 | 5th | | NR | NR |
| 2014 | Jacques Chapdelaine | 2–9 | 2–7 | 5th | | NR | NR |
| 2015 | Kelly Bates | 0–9 | 0–6 | 7th | | NR | NR |
| 2016 | Kelly Bates | 0–10 | 0–8 | 5th | | NR | NR |
| 2017 | Kelly Bates | 0–10 | 0–8 | 5th | | NR | NR |
| 2018 | Thomas Ford | 1–8 | 0–7 | 5th | | NR | NR |
| 2019 | Thomas Ford | 1–9 | 1–5 | 3rd | | NR | NR |
| 2021 | Mike Rigell | 1–7 | 0–4 | 3rd | | NR | NR |
| Lone Star Conference (NCAA Division II) (2022) ||||||||
| 2022 | Mike Rigell | 1–9 | 1–8 | 10th (Last) | | NR | NR |
| NCAA: | NCAA: | 18–99 | 13–80 | | | | |
| Total: | Total: | | | | | | |
| National championship  Conference title  Conference division title or championship game berth ||||||||
| $^#$Highest rank during the course of the season (NR=not ranked). $^°$Final rank. Since 2000, the final rankings were released following the playoffs. ||||||||
(*) In 2009, two victories were nullified because CWUAA accused SFU for having ineligible players in both games. However, SFU argued that they followed CWUAA's guidelines perfectly and that the player was eligible at the time of the accusation. The Manitoba Bisons also used an ineligible player in a Simon Fraser win, so the game was declared "no contest."

## Head coaches

| Name | Years |
| Lorne Davies | 1965–1972 |
| Bob De Julius | 1973–1979 |
| Rod Woodward | 1980–1982 |
| Chris Beaton | 1983–2005 |
| Frank Boehres | 2006 |
| Dave Johnson | 2007–2013 |
| Jacques Chapdelaine | 2014 |
| Kelly Bates | 2015–2017 |
| Thomas Ford | 2018–2019 |
| Mike Rigell | 2020–2022 |

## CIS playoff results

* 2002 Out of Playoffs
* 2003 Defeated Regina Rams in semi-final 53–46 Defeated Alberta Golden Bears in Hardy Cup 28–18 Lost to Saint Mary's Huskies in Uteck Bowl 60–9
* 2004 Out of Playoffs
* 2005 Out of Playoffs
* 2006 Out of Playoffs
* 2007 Out of Playoffs
* 2008 Defeated Saskatchewan Huskies in semi-final 40–30 Lost to Calgary Dinos in Hardy Cup 44–21
* 2009 Out of Playoffs

## Red Leafs in the CFL

Since the program first began in 1965, Simon Fraser University has had the most first overall selections with five.
As of the start of the 2024 CFL season, five former SFU players were on CFL teams' rosters:
* Michael Couture, BC Lions
* Jordan Herdman-Reed, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* Justin Herdman-Reed, Saskatchewan Roughriders
* Rysen John, Calgary Stampeders
* Ante Milanovic-Litre, Hamilton Tiger-Cats

## Red Leafs in the NFL

Former SFU wide receiver Victor Marshall was invited to the Seattle Seahawks rookie camp in May 2013 and earned a contract on May 13 to take part in Organized Team Activities and training camp as a tight end. On July 30, 2013, the Seahawks released Marshall during training camp.
On April 27, 2018, former SFU defensive end Nathan Shepherd was selected 72nd overall in the 2018 NFL draft by the New York Jets, but he was selected out of Fort Hays State. Shepherd made the 53-man roster out of training camp. As of the end of the 2024 NFL season, he was on the New Orleans Saints roster.