‘A father figure to me’: beloved high school football coach in Winnipeg dies

Stu Nixon, a long-time high school football coach in Winnipeg, is being remembered for helping shape the early careers of CFL stars.

A Winnipeg high school football coach who helped develop the careers of several CFL players has died.

Stu Nixon, the long-time coach of the Oak Park Raiders, died over the weekend. His death was confirmed on Tuesday by the Pembina Trails School Division, where Nixon had served as a school trustee since 2022.

“Stu believed in engaging students as learners by helping them feel connected to their school community,” the division said in a statement posted online.

For 20 years, Nixon ran the football program at Oak Park. Over the years, several of his players including Brady Oliveira, Andrew Harris, Sean Jamieson, and Nic Demski, went on to the CFL.

“One of the greatest coaches that I’ve ever had in my football career was Oak Park with Mr. Nixon,” Oliveira said after the Blue Bombers practice Tuesday.

Oliveira added Nixon was more than just a football coach or teacher to him.

“He was just such a huge part of my life; not just when it came to the game of football, but just outside of it, the things I was facing in my family life,” he said. “Nixon was there to step in and be like a father figure to me.”

Nixon was also named to the Manitoba Football Hall of Fame in 2023.