Anwar Stewart (born February 9, 1976) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach and former player. He is the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

coach for the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

, a position he has held since 2020. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

and played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) for 13 seasons.

Playing career

After playing his college football at the

, Stewart joined the CFL's Calgary Stampeders for the 2001 season, playing one game before being released the following year in the preseason. From 2002 to 2011 Stewart played for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

, leading the team in quarterback sacks for four seasons (2003–06). In 2004, he had 21 tackles, 9 sacks and 4 interceptions (returning 2 of those for touchdowns), good enough to make the CFL All Star Team and to win the

CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award The Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award is annually awarded to the best defensive player in the Canadian football League. The winner of the award is selected by members of the Football Reporters of Canada along with the head coaches in the CFL. ...

. On October 12, 2009, Stewart became the Alouettes all-time sacks leader with 53 career sacks, passing

Elfrid Payton Elfrid Payton Jr. (born February 22, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, winning the Lefty D ...

who had 52. He finished with 66 career sacks in Montreal after he was released on February 8, 2012. On October 10, 2012, Stewart again signed with the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

where he recorded 4 sacks in only 4 games, bringing his career total to 70. Following the

2012 CFL season The 2012 CFL season was the 59th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 55th season for the Canadian Football League. The pre-season began on June 13, 2012, and the regular season started on June 29, 2012. Rogers Centr ...

, he was released by the Stampeders. He was signed to the Alouettes' practice roster on August 13, 2013, after Montreal released Ejiro Kuale earlier in the week.

Coaching career

Montreal Alouettes

After retiring from playing in 2013, Stewart was hired by the Alouettes in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

as a defensive quality control coach. He was promoted in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

to the team’s defensive ends coach and in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

was given the title of defensive line coach.

Kentucky

He returned to his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

where he stayed two years working as a defensive assistant.

Appalachian State

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, Stewart was the defensive line coach for Appalachian State.

Kentucky (second stint)

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, Stewart returned to Kentucky as the team’s defensive line coach.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
* 1976 births Living people American football defensive linemen Canadian football defensive linemen Players of Canadian football from Florida Calgary Stampeders players Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award winners Kentucky Wildcats football players Montreal Alouettes players Bay High School (Panama City, Florida) alumni Players of American football from Panama City, Florida Montreal Alouettes coaches {{Canadianfootball-defensive-lineman-stub