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| Profile | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive back | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | (1952-10-09)October 9, 1952 Thornhill, Ontario, Canada | ||||||
| Died | December 25, 2002(2002-12-25) (aged 50) Halifax,Nova Scotia, Canada | ||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||
| Weight | 186 lb (84 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| College | Colorado | ||||||
| University | Wilfrid Laurier | ||||||
| CFL draft | 2006 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
Playing | |||||||
| 1974–1976 | Toronto Argonauts | ||||||
| 1977 | BC Lions | ||||||
| 1978–1980 | Montreal Alouettes | ||||||
| 1980 | Ottawa Rough Riders | ||||||
Coaching | |||||||
| 1982 | Saint Mary's Huskies (Assistant coach) | ||||||
| 1983–1997 | Saint Mary's Huskies (Head coach) | ||||||
Operations | |||||||
| 1995–2002 | Saint Mary's Huskies (Athletic Director) | ||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||
| |||||||
| Career CFL statistics | |||||||
| |||||||
Canadian Football Hall of Fame (Class of 2020) | |||||||
Larry UteckCC (October 9, 1952 – December 25, 2002) was a Canadian professionalfootball athlete, university sports administrator, football coach, and municipal politician.
Born inThornhill, Ontario of Ukrainian descent, Larry Uteck attended Jesuit-runBrebeuf College School in Toronto, where he was a football star and Athlete of the Year. He then went to theUniversity of Colorado (1970–73) on scholarship, playing with theColorado Buffaloes, and thenWilfrid Laurier University (1973–74).
Following university, Uteck played with theToronto Argonauts,BC Lions,Ottawa Rough Riders, andMontreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League and was named Conference All-Star in 1975 and 1976. He served his fellow players as their League Representative in 1976. One of Uteck's inspirations was John Black, his school teacher from Marmora, Ontario.
He coached the intracollege football team atSt. Michael's College at the University of Toronto for 2 years, winning theMulock Cup, then joined the sports program atSaint Mary's University in 1982, and became head football coach of theSaint Mary's Huskies in 1983 and continued through 1997, compiling a winning record.[1] He was namedAUAA Coach of the Year in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1992. He was namedCIAUCoach of the Year in 1988 and 1992. His teams appeared in fiveAtlantic Bowls and threeVanier Cups. In 1995, he was named interim director of athletics and recreation and was formally appointed director in 1997, a position in which he continued until his death.
Uteck also worked for the larger Halifax community, notably as deputy mayor of theHalifax Regional Municipality, and was a champion of the Halifax Harbour Solutions Project. His deep love for his community took him into municipal politics and he was elected alderman for theCity of Halifax, Ward 5. He served two years (1994–95) and was elected to the first Halifax Regional Municipal Council for District 13 (Northwest Arm-South End),[2] where he served from 1995–1999.[3] His quiet, but tenacious and thoughtful leadership saw him elected deputy mayor in 1998. He served with distinction on numerous HRM Committees including the Downtown Business Commission,Neptune Theatre, and theHalifax Port Corporation. His wife, Sue succeeded him as councillor for District 13 in December 1999.[4]
Uteck married Sue Maloney in 1989, and they had two children, Luke (whom he named after Black's son) and Cain.
Uteck died on December 25, 2002.[5][6]
Uteck's remarkable leadership and vision were recognized when he was named a Member of theOrder of Canada in October 2002.[7][8] It was one of the few honours he would accept following the diagnosis ofamyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, a.k.a.Lou Gehrig's disease) in 1997 (one of his teammates on the Montreal Alouettes,Tony Proudfoot, also succumbed to the disease).
The only other honour he would accept was the naming of aHalifax road "Larry Uteck Boulevard" in February 2000, later a tri town road in 2014.[9]
Following his death, and in consideration of his longtime Canadian football career as a professional athlete in the CFL, and coach at Saint Mary's University and as the university's athletic director, it was decided that theChurchill Bowl would be retired, with theMitchell Bowl taking the place of the Churchill Bowl, and a new championship be named in Uteck's memory. Thus, theUteck Bowl formally replaced theAtlantic Bowl.[10][11]
His alma mater, Brebeuf College School, honoured him by renaming its sports field the Larry Uteck Memorial Field in 2004.
Uteck was inducted into theCanadian Football Hall of Fame as a builder in 2020.[12]