Brian Copeland – Vice President of the Ontario Football Conference

 

Hamilton Hurricanes: Since finishing your career with the Hurricanes, what have you been up to?

 

Brian Copeland: Since finishing with the Canes in 93, I was very lucky to continue being involved with football at many levels. Playing until as recent as 2011 for the Oakville Longhorns in the NFC and coaching everything from little 7-year-old tykes right up to NFC, as a member of management with the Canes and as a dad watching my kids play.   I started a construction company right out university which is still going very strong and I very recently retired as a firefighter.  I was blessed with two awesome boys who have always been insanely active. My older boy, Jacob, is almost 20 and had an amazing football career and is now part of the Canadian Forces. My younger boy, Graeme, is about to turn 16 and is an amazing hockey player. They’ve kept me on my toes for years.  I recently (like last week) got married. My wife, Ashley, and her 9-year-old daughter Aidyn and the rest of us stay pretty busy with all of the kid’s activities.

 

HH:  What does it mean to you to be a Hamilton Hurricane?

 

BC: That’s easy. I grew up right in the heart of the city (Barton and Sherman) just a couple blocks from Ivor Wynne Stadium. Any kid from the ‘Hammer’ knows what it means to be a football player and represent the city. Its’ always felt like the Football Capital of Canada to me.   "Back in the day", the Canes were an enormous part of the city. You could open the newspaper weekly and see stories about how we were doing. The city loved us. We wore our football jackets and t-shirts around with so much pride and it doesn’t get much better than that! I was incredibly fortunate to be part of the Canes family as a player for 4 years up to 1993, as a key part of the group that brought the team back 10 years ago, and for a few years recently as a dad. My son, Jacob, played from 2013-2015.

 

HH: What is one thing you took away from the game of football? How did it help you develop as a person?

 

BC: Football is the ultimate team sport. If one guy doesn’t do his job, it makes it really tough for the other 11 to get theirs done. It’s also about how everything worth having takes a lot of work. That is sort of how it’s been for me. Whether it was all those years playing football, or with my business, or raising two boys, or working on the fire scene, it’s always been hard work!

 

HH: What is one piece of advice you have received in your life that you live by?

 

BC: I had a coach in Oakville for many years that preached "accountability" like no one I have ever met. When I look back at it now, I was terrified to let him down on the field. How we had to be accountable to him, as well as, all our brothers out there on the field. Here in 2017, it’s a trait that seems to be disappearing, but it’s still one I preach to the kids I've coached and my boys at home.

 

HH. What is your 5-year plan?

 

BC: Wow. 5-year plan!!!!  Well, like I said, I just got married, so that’s the biggest part of my plan.  I've given a ton of time to all kinds of teams and groups over the years. At this point, it’s all about family now. We do a lot together and I'm enjoying all of it!

 

HH: What has been the biggest challenge you have faced?

 

BC: I worked as a firefighter for many years and that brings tons of challenges almost daily.  But, like they say, the biggest challenges seem to reap the greatest rewards.

HH: What has been your proudest moment?

 

BC: I was very lucky to play a lot of football, but it’s a sport where not many guys can say they've represented their country! In 2013, my son Jacob was part of the Canadian U-16 group that traveled to Austin, Texas and beat team USA. In the stands watching, as your son wears the "Canadian Red" and your national anthem is playing through the stadium, that’s a tough "proudest moment" to beat!

 

HH: Who has had the biggest impact on your life?

 

BC: I'd have to say my two boys. It’s a dad's job to groom their boys into decent men, but we've spent most of the past 7 years (before my wife came along) as three very close dudes living in what everyone referred to as the frat-house.  Raising my two guys taught me so much about what’s important in life. Those lessons are by far the most valuable.

HH: Where is the coolest place you have visited?

 

BC: I haven’t travelled much. I’ve always been too busy with the kids and their year-round sports.  Last week I was in Mexico and went zip-lining and swimming in a Cenote and I must say, it’s an experience everyone should try.
 

HH: Favourite hobby? /What do you like to do in your free time?

 

BC: Free time? What’s that? Although football was always "my game", I'll admit that playing hockey is my total happy place. I play year-round and I still coach my younger son and now I'm teaching my new step-daughter how to skate so, I'm on the ice a lot through the winter.  Other than that, I have been totally blessed with an amazing (and very large) group of incredibly close friends. We play hockey all winter, and baseball all summer together and our families are inseparable it seems.

 

HH: Do you still have ties to the Hurricanes? What are they?

 

BC: Well, although my ties as player/former team president/dad are all now done, I recently accepted the position as Vice President of the Ontario Football Conference. A job I'm excited about. I still have my eye on the guys and from pretty close range. "Once a Cane-Always a Cane" it seems.

HH: As a coach with the Longhorns, what was your philosophy of coaching and its relationship to education?

 

BC: Education is absolutely invaluable in today's world. You must have it! I preach to my kids how important it is and when I was with both the Longhorns and the Hurricanes I was always talking to guys about how there’s always "something more" out there and a lot of it takes education. I guess it was sort of my philosophy. To strive for more, to be accountable and to try and define yourself with your decisions.

 

HH: What advice do you have for young men looking to continue their football careers?

 

BC: My biggest advice would be to enjoy every single ounce of time you spend playing the game and never ever forget why you started playing! Some guys finish after high school, some after college or university and the lucky handful continue on to play professionally or at the senior men’s level and for most of them, it ends quicker than you can imagine. All I would say is, suck every ounce out of the experience that you can because unlike any other sport, there comes a day when there’s just nowhere left for you to enjoy it as a player. After that, all you have are your memories and your stories that you get to share with your friends and kids.