Courtesy of Michael Couture
It’s been a blast spending his first offseason at home knowing he’s going to suit up for the Lions that he grew up supporting. Football in British Columbia has done so much for local players like Michael Couture.
For the O-Lineman to get to where he is now, all the bits and pieces from his childhood to playing for Simon Fraser University had prepared him for the CFL, it’s disheartening for him to see his alma mater’s ending its football program — leaving their athletes empty handed with only a small-time window to seek the transfer portal before the start of the season in fall.
“I would not be here if it wasn’t for my time there. I’ve had teammates that became lifelong friends. It’s truly disappointing to hear what has happened and hopefully, something can be done about it,” Couture said.
“It’s super unfortunate for the guys that decided to go to SFU because they felt like it was the best option for them at the time. Now guys are looking for other places to go play. My heart goes out to all of them because they just finished spring camp, and they’re dealing with exams. The last thing you need to worry about is where you are going to play next season,” he added.
Courtesy of Michael Couture
Coming out of high school, Couture was supposed to redshirt in his freshman season. With different coaches coming and going throughout his time at SFU, he was thrown into different positions on the O-line and ended up playing all of centre, guard and tackle. Adaptability is a trait he takes pride in because he was able to play different roles and play in different schemes.
“I wasn’t even a starter. They just threw me in to see if it’ll work. I ended up playing left guard my first year. Right tackle in the second year, centre my junior year and right tackle in my senior year. We didn’t have the coaching stability we had hoped for so I took that as an opportunity to become adaptable,” he recalled.
“Different offences have different techniques. Each year, we were getting taught something slightly different. The base concepts were there but to be able to adjust on the fly every year was something I’ve taken with me.”
Some of Couture’s fondest memory playing at Simon Fraser were beyond the football field. The long road trips travelling across the border to play in American schools and spending all the downtime with teammates were moments he couldn’t get anywhere else.
One time when Couture and his team drove 13-plus hours to California through the Redwood Forest to play against Humboldt State University and got to eat at different restaurants in the states.
“It’s funny when I think back to a lot of my best memories, it doesn’t really come from the gameplay, but it’s more of the cliché like everything off the field, like training in the offseason. We used to have a great group of local guys. We would do run sessions and then we’d crush weights and go out to eat. I feel like those are the days that really cemented my friendships with the people I still talk to today,” he recalled.
Courtesy of Michael Couture
This offseason, Couture and teammate Sukh Chungh have been training six days a week together. Couture has spent a few of his offseason in the CFL training on his own. He said it’s way more effective when you have another person pushing you further toward your goal.
“I feel like overall, I’ve become more disciplined when I’m training with a group. To be able to do that with the guys you’re playing with is fantastic. And also to be at the facility, to show face and be here every day I think is really important,” Couture added.
Since joining the Lions this offseason, Couture had to take a step back and realize the players he played against aren’t all enemies. Although players may conduct themselves differently on the field, Couture got to know a few of his new teammates off the field.
Now sharing the same locker room with guys he already met like Andrew Peirson, David Knevel and Kent Perkins, who he used to want to outperform. They turned out to be another good group of people Couture can’t wait to compete for together.
“We got some big dudes here for sure,” Couture on his new teammates.
“You can never judge a book by its cover is so true. Especially in pro sports, you don’t want to be friends with the opponents but it’s always cool to be able to figure out how people are or how they function off the field,” he added.
As training camp gets closer, Couture and the O-Line will display all the work they had prepped for in the offseason and show it in action.
“Once camp comes is the time to get to know the group as a whole, what makes everybody tick. And hopefully, we will have a lot of meals together. I think as an O-Lineman, that’s one of our favourite things.”