The Canadian football community, particularly the portion which emphasizes the ‘foot’ part, is grieving the loss of legendary Coach Kick.
Hamilton’s Ken Urquhart, known coast-to-coast for his work in developing scores of punters and place-kickers who went on to college and pro careers, died last month at the age of 68 and his football legacy is being honoured with a celebration of life—free, and open to the public—this Sunday (2–5 p.m.) on the Hall of Fame Level of Hamilton Stadium.
“He was basically my first kicking coach,” says Ticat place-kicker Marc Liegghio.
“In the kicking world, you can’t really say enough about Coach Kick. He gave his all and wanted every player to succeed; he would never take ‘I can’t do it’ as an answer. He’d stay out there kicking longer than you would stay out there. He’d kick with the guys, he’d show us that he could still kick spirals and field goals better than we could even at his age.
“He was just such a great mentor; he was one of the kindest and most genuine people you could ever meet. All the players knew his name and he bled kicking; it was his life’s passion.”
Urquhart wanted to be a pro kicker and had a chance to go to the University of Washington on a full scholarship but was dissuaded from that notion and got a steady job at Dofasco, where he worked for 47 years before retiring last October. As a teenager he had learned from Ticat Wall of Famer Bernie Ruoff and started teaching kicking to others in 1984, trying to provide another generation with the opportunity to follow a football career that he didn’t have.
Former Ticat, and current Argonaut, Lirim Hajrullahu was one of his students, while Hajrullahu was still in grade 12 at Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catharines. He’d already heard of Urquhart through acquaintances and started working under him in the summer of 2008, then by 2012 started working with him, teaching young kickers—including Liegghio—along with former Saltfleet High School and Western Mustang star Darryl Wheeler, in Hamilton.
Hajrullahu was at Western and had already been coached individually by Urquhart for a few years when he received approval to do a research project for his Master’s of Sports Management and Leadership program by working hands-on with Urquhart. So he was simultaneously a teacher and student on Urquhart’s widespread coaching tree.
And when Hajrullahu was with the Ticats in 2018 and ’19, “he’d walk over to the stadium from Dofasco to help me out. I’d have a practice, then lunch, then another practice with Coach Kick.
“Before I came to Coach Kick when I was in high school I had been kicking on my own and then I came to Hamilton and saw all these guys who were dedicated to their craft,” Hajrullahu said. “It opened my eyes to what this coach could do and how he could help. He had four or five guys in the NCAA, and all kinds of guys who became all-Canadians in university like Darryl Wheeler and Rob Maver.
“Back then we worked out at St. Mary’s Catholic School and went all over Hamilton to find other fields where we wouldn’t get kicked off.
“He was such an influence in perseverance, helping the underdog reach his goals, and never giving up. I had some ups and downs in my career and he stood by me every time. He pushed me to work, to where I needed to go mentally but also technically. He meant the world to me. I miss him dearly every day; he was such an impactful person in terms of getting me to the pros, getting me to the NFL, being a champion.”
Liegghio came into the picture when he was still in high school and bound for Western, where Wheeler and Hajrullahu had carved out their reputations before him, both while tutored by Urquhart, who also spent time on the staff of Wilfrid Laurier. He drove from his hometown of Woodbridge to attend a Coach Kick camp at Hamilton Stadium which by then also included Wheeler and Hajrullahu as instructors.
Flash forward to the 2025 season: Liegghio reeled off the fourth-longest (33) successful field goal streak in CFL history and Hajrullahu established the all-time league record (12) for field goals of 50 yards or longer. Both credit Urquhart.
