

Sometimes the road not taken leads to recognizing the road you were meant to take.
And that road has brought Brent Monson all the way back home.
“It was definitely interesting driving down to the facility today,” says the newly-minted Tiger-Cats defensive coordinator, who becomes a key member of head coach Scott Milanovich’s staff. “I thought of all the times that I was driving down to football games at Ivor Wynne or going to coach somewhere near Ivor Wynne. It was awesome, just taking the drive in. It’s just nice to be here and be home.”
Monson’s long journey included the past 15 years and at least six different jobs with the Calgary Stampeders, including the most recent six seasons as defensive coordinator.
But it all began when he decided he wasn’t going to get a lot of playing time for a very strong McMaster Marauders team and opted to play junior football for the Burlington Braves, while volunteering as a special teams coordinator with Bishop Tonnos, which was just getting its first football program started.
He’d played linebacker and receiver for St. Thomas More Knights, who always had good teams and lost the city title to Cathedral in his final year, and when he talked to Mac head coach Stefan Ptaszek about his chances of making the Marauders, “it didn’t seem like there was much interest.
“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t that good of a football player. I was more of a football mind. After that, I decided to start coaching and play Burlington Braves junior football. I had the choice between fighting to potentially play or getting into coaching at a younger age. So I made a call to Rob Menna because he was going to be the head football coach at Bishop Tonnos.”
That meant that, depending upon the day, he’d either attend classes at McMaster or work at one of his part-time jobs in conditioning gyms. He’d then drive to Bishop Tonnos to coach special teams and defensive backs from 3-5 p.m. , then hop back in his car drive to Burlington for his own practice as a Braves player. He spent so much time behind the wheel he’d keep a stash of food in his car.
“I was getting home around 9-10 at night and that was at least three or four times a week,” he recalls.
But those exhausting days were quietly paying off in accumulated experience, and a sharpening of his career aspirations. He’d originally envisioned himself as a high school teacher, who’d also coach the football team.
However, seeking to learn more football, he followed Bishop Tonnos defensive coordinator Rob Underhill to join the coaching staff of the Ontario Varsity Football League’s Steel City Ironmen and work with the Team Ontario program.
“I found out I did not want to teach in a classroom,” he says, “I just really wanted to teach fooball. I started researching everything I could to try and get to the U.S. as a graduate assistant coach.”
Upon his graduation from McMaster, he send an e-mail to every Division 1, 1AA, Division 2 and Division 3 school in the U.S. — “Hundreds of them, saying, ‘I can do this, this, this and this, and I’m willing to come work for free.’”
After a brief but unfulfilling stop at Hampton University, a video assistant at Northern Arizona who knew that the Stampeders were looking for a video coordinator sent them Monson’s resumé. When Calgary came to Ivor Wynne for a 2008 game he met with the club and was hired as a video assistant for 2009, and his CFL career had begun.
It was an entry-level job, for sure.
“It’s at the very bottom, it definitely wasn’t a highly-paid job,” he laughs. “It ended up working out really well for me, though. I had some great people there to learn from. I would do my video stuff and I was trying to show up first and leave last. I would try to get there early so I could be with the coaches earlier than the video responsibilities started.
“I was filming practice and you had to be locked in the whole time. It didn’t matter the job, I said yes to everything and did it to the best of my ability.
“A message for any younger coaches out there; If you get an opportunity, it doesn’t matter what the pay is, just do every little job you can to the best of your ability, do more and do extra. Don’t show up at the time you’re supposed to be there. Show up early and don’t leave at the time you’re supposed to leave. Stay late.”
Monson says the Calgary coach who helped him most was Chris Jones, whom he now replaces as defensive coordinator. In his early Calgary years he shared living quarters with Jones and then Ryan Dinwiddie, the current head coach of the Toronto Argonauts and the coordinator he’ll now be going against head-to-head in important divisional games.
But Monson’s effort was also catching the eye of John Hufnagel and Dave Dickenson, who run the Stamps’ football ops, and he was promoted to strength and conditioning coach, then linebackers coach when Mark Kilam—recently named head coach in Edmonton—moved up to special teams coordinator. After a year, he worked with the defensive line, then was switched to offence for three years as running backs coach, handling the likes of Jon Cornish for three seasons.
“I really had zero experience coaching offence but I learned fast and was fortunate to work with a guy like Jon Cornish. Good players make good coaches,” Monson says. “Being on offence for three years really opened my eyes to becoming a better defensive coach. How does it work? What are the mechanics of that in your mind?
“One thing that stands out is sitting in the protection meetings and watching which blitzes and which things give them the most trouble. Then, taking that when you get back to defence and implementing it yourself. How to beat protection. Looking at what they’re trying to do and what their thought process is and trying to stop it..
“This made me have a much better understanding of what to do to beat it.”
In 2015, Monson was promoted again, moving back to the other side of the ball as linebackers coach. He was elevated to defensive coordinator in 2019 and experienced immediate success. But, by his own admission, he has a “big chip on my shoulder” because the last two years weren’t up to his personal standards and he feels he has something to prove as he takes over the defence in the most defence-centric city in the league.
“I’m going to be all in, all the time, because it’s a special place in my heart to win games in front of the people here. It kind of gives me the shakes, thinking about winning games here.”
So what can TigerTown expect of that Brent Monson defence?
“High effort,” he responds quickly. “Physicality, run to the ball, and you’ve got to create turnovers. In Calgary, we didn’t create enough turnovers the last couple of years. That is something that needs to happen here. You’ve got to have game-changing plays. This defence is going to be fast, aggressive, disciplined, play with high effort, and win a lot of games.”
When he reviews the 2024 Ticats’ defence, which started the year under Mark Washington, and finished the final seven games under Chris Jones, “I see we have some great pieces. But I also feel like it’s time to improve. They probably all feel like they want to win more games, and that’s why I’m here.”
Monson was 14 years old the last time the Ticats won the Grey Cup and, as a die-hard fan it had a profound effect on him. So it was emotionally stirring when head coach Scott Milanovich selected him to lead the defence.
“You have the long-term goal of the Grey Cup,” he said. “But I like winning every day, right? So when it comes to practice, or in training camp, you have to win every day. The first game, the goal is to win that one and build, win the next one and then build, win the next one.
“My thought is more in the process. I want to think, ‘How do I win today?’ More than just thinking about the Grey Cup, I feel like it’s the process to get there. You’re always thinking about winning every down, and that’s going to get you there.
“This will be a team that will leave it all out there. I’m going to be all in, all the time, because it’s a special place in my heart to win games in front of the people here. It kind of gives me the shakes, thinking about winning games here.”