Marcel Bellefeuille (born March 19, 1966) is a Canadian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach who is the head coach of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and offensive coordinator for the

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in Metro Detroit. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played its home gam ...

. He originally began his coaching career with Ottawa in 1995 and won the program's second

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup () is the trophy awarded annually to the champion Canadian football team in U Sports, the governing body for university sports in Canada. The U Sports football champion is determined in a one-game playoff (the Vanier Cup game), pl ...

championship in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. He then spent 16 years coaching 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), including a stint as the head coach of the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

from to . Bellefeuille returned as head coach of the Gee-Gees in 2020.

Coaching career

Ottawa Gee-Gees

Bellefeuille was hired by the

Ottawa Gee-Gees The Ottawa Gee-Gees () are the athletic teams that represent the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario. The Gee-Gees won the national football championship, the Vanier Cup, in 1975 and 2000, while also appearing in the game in the 1970, 1980 ...

as their assistant head-coach in 1995. He spent the next three seasons at the same position before being promoted to

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

in 1998. In 1999, he was named OQIFC Coach of the Year and then, in

, he led the Gee-Gees to a

victory.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

After the win in the Vanier Cup, Bellefeuille was hired by the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

as an assistant. In 2003, he was named the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

. In three seasons, he helped the Roughriders

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

s total 7,000 rushing yards.

Montreal Alouettes

After leaving Saskatchewan, Bellefeuille joined 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 ...

in 2006 as their running backs and

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

s coach. In 2007, he was promoted to offensive coordinator and running backs coach. In his 1st season in Montreal, he helped Robert Edwards lead the CFL in

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s with 17. Bellefeuille also helped the Alouettes be the only team with two 1,000 yard receivers in Kerry Watkins and

Ben Cahoon Ben Cahoon (born July 16, 1972) is a Canadian-American former professional football slotback who spent his entire career with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He won the award for the Most Outstanding Canadian in the ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

In 2008, Bellefeuille was hired by the

to be their offensive coordinator and Quarterbacks coach. In September 2008, following

Charlie Taaffe Charlie Taaffe (April 20, 1950 – October 29, 2019) was an American gridiron football coach who was the head football coach at The Citadel from 1987 to 1996. He is the winningest head coach in the school's history. He was also the head coach of ...

's firing, he was named the interim

. On October 27, he was officially named Taaffe's replacement. His record as the Ti-Cats interim coach was 1-7-0. On January 15, 2009, Bellefeuille completed his staff shake-up by hiring Greg Marshall as his

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

and Mike Gibson as his

. Before the Tiger-Cats final 2009 preseason game against the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

, Bellefeuille said that, "The only thing we know for certain as a coaching staff and as an organization is that

Nick Setta Nicholas Setta (born May 6, 1981) is a former professional Canadian football placekicker and punter. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Early years Setta attended Lockport Township High School in Lockport, Illinois. ...

will be our kicker." In three full seasons as the head coach of the Ti-Cats, Bellefeuille posted a 26-28 record, making the playoffs every season and going to the East Final in 2011. While the team had made an East Final appearance, they had a losing record in 2011 and he was relieved of his duties after season's end.

Omaha Nighthawks

Prior to the

2012 UFL season The 2012 UFL season was the fourth and final season of the United Football League. Four teams began what was originally scheduled to be an eight-game schedule beginning September 26, 2012.Minium, Harry (July 26, 2012)Virginia Destroyers say they ...

, Bellefeuille was announced as offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for the United Football League's

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010 UFL season, 2010. During ...

. Like Bellefeuille, Omaha head coach

Bart Andrus Bart Andrus (born March 30, 1958) is an American football coach and a former collegiate player who is the head coach of the Frankfurt Galaxy of the European League of Football (ELF). He has served as head coach for the Amsterdam Admirals of the ...

was also a former CFL head coach, having coached the

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

On August 12, 2013, Bellefeuille signed on with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

of the

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

as a member of the team's offensive coaching staff. Six days later, he was promoted to offensive coordinator following the dismissal of

Gary Crowton David Gary Crowton (born June 14, 1957) is an American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Louisiana Tech University from 1996 to 1998 and at Brigham Young University (BYU) from 2001 to 2004, compiling a career college footbal ...

and remained with the team through to the 2015 season.

BC Lions

Bellefeuille joined the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

for the 2016 season and spent two years with the club.

Queen's Gaels

In 2018, Bellefeuille served as offensive coordinator for the

Queen's Gaels football The Queen's Gaels football team represents Queen's University in the sport of Canadian football. The Gaels compete at the U Sports football level, within the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) conference. Queen's began competing in intercollegia ...

team of

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

Edmonton Eskimos

Bellefeuille was hired as a scout for the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

in 2019.

Montreal Alouettes

On January 9, 2020, it was announced that Bellefeuille had re-joined the

as the team's

offensive line coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, associate and assistant coach, and the Offensive coordinator, offensive a ...

. However, following the resignation of

Jamie Barresi Jamie Barresi is a Canadian football coach who was most recently the head coach of the University of Ottawa's football team, the Ottawa Gee-Gees. He was hired as the team's head coach on January 15, 2013 and coached the team for seven years with ...

at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

, there was speculation that Bellefueille could return as the program's head coach there.

Ottawa Gee-Gees (II)

On May 21, 2020, Bellefeuille was officially announced as the head coach of the Ottawa Gee-Gees.

Philadelphia Stars

On January 28, 2022, Stars Head coach

announced that Bellefueille would be a part of the Stars coaching staff at an unknown position, presumably offensive coordinator. On January 1, 2024, it was announced the Stars would not be a part of the UFL Merger.

Michigan Panthers

On January 29, 2024, it was revealed that Bellefueille would become the new Offensive coordinator for the Michigan Panthers.

CFL coaching record

Personal

Bellefeuille was born in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, attended Ridgemont High School, and played both

and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

with the Ottawa Gee-Gees. He lives with his wife Julie and their four children (Ymilie Bellefeuille, Alexandra Bellefeuille, Mathias Bellefeuille and Cedric Bellefeuille).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellefeuille, Marcel Living people Canadian football people from Ottawa Saskatchewan Roughriders coaches Montreal Alouettes coaches Hamilton Tiger-Cats coaches Winnipeg Blue Bombers coaches Ottawa Gee-Gees football coaches Omaha Nighthawks coaches Michigan Panthers (2022) coaches BC Lions coaches Philadelphia Stars (2022) coaches 1966 births