Lions announce T-Camp coaching lineup

(Vancouver) The BC Lions Football Club announced today that former CFL standouts Allen Pitts and Mike Walker will lend a hand as guest coaches at Lions training camp slated to begin Sunday, June 1st in Abbotsford. Pitts and Walker will be joined by Art Edgson, Pat Sheahan, and UBC’s Dino Geremia.

Pitts joins the Lions for the first time at training camp after a spectacular career with the Calgary Stampeders (1990-2000) where he still holds many team records including career touchdowns (117) and all-time receiving yards (14,891). He played in five Grey Cup games and was instrumental in two Grey Cup victories in 1992 and 1998. In 1992, Pitts also became the second CFL player to have more than one season with at least 100 receptions, but the first player to do so in consecutive years. In November 2006, he was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#10) of the league's modern era by TSN. Pitts will work with the Lions receiving corps.

Walker makes his first visit to Lions training camp and will assist Mike Roach with the defensive line. Walker spent 10 years in the CFL with Hamilton (1982-89) and Edmonton (1990-91) and appeared in four Grey Cup games. The native of Indianapolis, Indiana was an East Division and CFL All-Star three times in his career (’87, ’88, ’89) as well a Divisional All-Star in 1986. Most recently, Mike had been coaching the defensive line at Washington State where he had been in place since 1997.

Edgson returns for his fifth training camp stint with the Lions and will assist defensive backs coach Mark Washington with the team’s secondary. Art played alongside Wally Buono at Idaho State University and with the Montreal Alouettes where they won a Grey Cup in 1974. Edgson has also served as a guest coach with the Calgary Stampeders from 2001-2003. Following his playing career, Art attended law school at BYU and has enjoyed a successful practice in Vancouver since 1980.

Sheahan begins his eighth year as head coach of the Queen’s University Golden Gaels later this fall and his twenty-fourth year as a coach in the CIS. Last season, Pat was named the OUA Coach of the Year after leading the team to a 6-2 record and the school’s first home playoff game since 2003. He was also selected OQIFC Coach of the Year in 1990 and 1998 and was selected OUA Coach of the Year in 2001. Prior to arriving at Queen’s in 2000, Sheahan was head coach of the Concordia University Stingers for eleven seasons posting a 66-41-1 record, two OQIFC Championships and the Stingers’ only Vanier Cup appearance in 1998. To date, he has coached 28 players who went on to play professional football in the CFL or NFL.

Geremia enters his third season as the defensive coordinator with UBC following an 18-year run with the Simon Fraser Clan. From 1988-91, Geremia played defensive tackle for the Clan and following graduation, he immediately began his coaching career as Simon Fraser’s defensive line coach, a position that he held from 1992 until 2000. Geremia developed a series of outstanding defensive linemen during his time at SFU, most notably former CFL All-Star Doug Peterson and Winnipeg’s Doug Brown.