OTTAWA -- The moment Corey Chamblin first started thinking about becoming a CFL head coach came while he was breaking down game film with Jim Barker years ago when the two were with the Calgary Stampeders. Custom Atlanta Falcons Jerseys . They were watching tape during the 2008 Grey Cup when Barker, himself a former coach, was then Calgarys senior vice-president of football operations and player-personnel director. Barker turned to the young assistant and made what Chamblin thought at the time was a terribly bold prediction. "He said, Youll be a better head coach than an assistant coach, and if you dont decide to go to the NFL and you stay in this league, youll definitely be a head coach," Chamblin recalls. "And I was like, Jim, youre crazy. " But Barkers words were prophetic. On Wednesday, Chamblin was named the CFLs coach of the year. The 36-year-old received the Annis Stukus Trophy after leading the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a Grey Cup win on home turf in only his second season with the club. The Riders finished second in the West Division standings with an 11-7 record. They defeated B.C. 29-25 in the conference semifinal before upsetting first-place Calgary -- which posted a league-best 14-4 record -- in the West Division final 35-13. That victory earned Saskatchewan home-field advantage for the Grey Cup game, which was held at Mosaic Stadium. Before a rabid gathering of 44,710, the Riders didnt disappoint, capping their season with an impressive 45-23 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Kent Austin, Hamiltons head coach/GM, and John Hufnagel, who also holds the same dual post with Calgary, were the award finalists. In his first season with Hamilton, Austin led the Ticats to second in the East Division with a 10-8 record before the club posted playoff wins over Montreal and Toronto. Austin was named the CFLs top coach in 07 after leading the Riders to a Grey Cup title. Hufnagel, who won the award in 2008, worked with Chamblin in Calgary. He said he saw in Chamblin many of the traits that have allowed him to make the transition from a position coach into a winning head coach. "He was very organized but he also had an eye out for the entire program, not just the defensive backs," Hufnagel said. "His vision was far-reaching. "He wanted to put a program together to help make the players transition, once they did make the roster, in finding homes in Calgary and all the type of things that provides the transition, makes it easier for the players. So early on, I knew Corey did have a vision of more than just what was his particular area." Chamblin bounced around the NFL until 2004 before embarking on his coaching career. The native of Birmingham, Ala., played defensive back at Tennessee Tech. After being bypassed in the NFL draft, he signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Ravens in 1999 but was waived before seeing any regular-season action. Chamblin then signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He also spent time in Green Bay, Tampa Bay and Indianapolis and played in Germany with the Rhein Fire of the former NFL Europe. His first coaching gig came in 2006 as an assistant at Tennessees Cumberland University. He got his first CFL job a year later as a defensive backs coach with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Chamblin moved to Calgary and spent three seasons as the Stampeders defensive backs coach -- winning the Grey Cup in 2008 -- before becoming Hamiltons defensive co-ordinator in 2011. The following season, he landed his first head-coaching job with the Roughriders. Chamblin credits Barker, currently the GM of the Toronto Argonauts, with inspiring him to become a head coach. "It was one of those things where I was like, Yeah, Jim, I dont know why youre saying this and I dont believe you. Right now, Im a defensive backs coach, " Chamblin said. "But I took that, and I think that was something that opened my eyes, that you know what, I should start preparing myself, and I did and I got it pretty soon." Custom Atlanta Braves Jerseys . -- With his team down 16 points in the second quarter and headed for another blowout loss at home, Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson yelled out to his players to keep shooting and keep fighting on defence. Custom Memphis Grizzlies Jerseys .Y. - Phil Varone was the lone scorer in the shootout as the Rochester Americans edged the Toronto Marlies 3-2 on Sunday in American Hockey League action. https://www.cheapcustomjerseysonline.com/custom-detroit-red-wings-jerseys/ .S. President Barack Obama saluted the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks at the White House on Monday -- a rare moment for a president hungry to see more victorious teams from his hometown.SYDNEY, Australia -- The manager of Olympic swimming great Ian Thorpe says the five-time gold medallist is in rehab after being found disoriented on a Sydney street early Monday morning by police responding to a call from residents. James Erskine told the Australian Associated Press that Thorpe was affected by a combination of antidepressants and the painkillers he was taking for a shoulder injury. Police spoke to Thorpe after residents near his parents home in Panania in Sydneys southwest reported a man allegedly breaking into a van. He was taken to Sydneys Bankstown Hospital for assessment and was later transferred to a rehab facility. "He is in rehab for depression," AAP quoted Erskine as saying. Erskine said Thorpe had thought he was sitting in his friends car. "The owner of the car basically called the police and the police came," he said. "They realized it was Ian Thorpe. They realized he was disoriented." Erskine said Thorpe, 31, had been taking antidepressants and medication for his shoulder but had not been drinking alcohol. "He hadnt had a drink," he said. "He had zero alcohol in him." Police said no official complaint has been made and no further police action is anticipated. Thorpe, who is currently living in Switzerland, has been staying with his parents over Christmas. Erskines admission that Thorpe is in rehab comes only days after Thorpes management company denied reports he checked into a rehab facility while battling depression and alcohol abuse. News Corporation, quoting friends of Thorpe, said he had been injured in a fall at his parents home and was taken to hospital. Reports said Thorpe checked into a rehab faciliity, but later checked out and returned to his parents home. Custom Indiana Pacers Jerseys. Thorpes management company, SEL, later issued a statement denying the reports. "Ian is not in rehab," a SEL representative said Friday. "Ian was in hospital for an operation on his shoulder and is pleased to let his friends and fans know that he is now out of hospital and on the mend." In his autobiography, published last year, Thorpe said "not even my family is aware that Ive spent a lot of my life battling what I can only describe as crippling depression." Thorpe, known to fans as Thorpedo, was a freestyle specialist and one of the greatest swimmers of his generation. He won three gold and two silver medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics -- the most medals won by any individual competitor at those games -- and two more golds at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He also won 11 world championships gold medals, including six at the 2001 championships at Fukuoka, Japan. When he won his first world championships gold at the age of 14 in Perth in 1998, he was the youngest-ever individual male world champion. At various times Thorpe held 13 individual world records and shared five others in relay events. The 400m freestyle was his signature event which he dominated at Olympics and World championships over more than six years. Thorpe retired from swimming in November, 2006, but attempted a comeback in 2012. His attempt to win a place on the Australian team for the London Olympics was unsuccessful and his thoughts of competing at the 2013 World Championships or 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games were thwarted by a shoulder injury. Friends said he struggled to adjust to life after swimming. ' ' '