The Mount Allison Mounties football team represents Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick in the sport of Canadian football in U Sports. The Mounties program has been in continuous operation since 1955 when they played an exhibition schedule and then officially joined the New Brunswick Football League (NBFL) in 1956. The football team was an inaugural member of the Maritime Intercollegiate Football League (MIFL), which was a precursor to the current sporting association, Atlantic University Sport.
The team has twice appeared in the Vanier Cup, once in 1984, and again in 1991, losing both times. The Mounties have won six conference championships in 14 appearances, including four straight from 2013 to 2016. Only one Mounties player has won the Hec Crighton Trophy, Canadian Football Hall of Fame member, ÃÂric Lapointe, who won the award twice and has since had his number retired by the program.
In June 2008, Kelly Jeffrey was named interim head coach for the 2008 season and led the Mounties to a berth in the playoffs for only the second time in the new millennium. Under his tutelage, quarterback Kelly Hughes was named the AUS Most Valuable Player. After this season, Jeffrey was named full-time head coach.
2009 saw the Mounties go 0âÂÂ8, but Gary Ross was named AUS MVP, the first time since 1991 and 1992 (Grant Keaney) that Mounties were named MVPs in back-to-back years. 2010 was the resurgence of the Mounties, led by second-year quarterback Jake Hotchkiss, who that year became the second Mountie quarterback under Jeffrey to be named an AUS All-Star. The Mounties went 4âÂÂ4 and hosted the AUS Semi-Final for the first time, which was also the first home playoff game since 1998. Jeffrey was named the AUS Coach Of the Year, the first Mountie to receive this honour since John MacNeil in 1996.
The Mounties finished second in the AUS conference in 2010 and hosted their first home playoff game (conference semi-finals) since the new millennium. Another 0âÂÂ8 season in 2011 was followed up by a successful 2012 which had the Mounties in the playoffs again, and boasted the AUS leading rusher (Jordan Botel) and the emergence of a new leader at quarterback, freshman Brandon Leyh. The 3âÂÂ5 Mounties also experienced an offence without either Gary Ross or Adam Molnar, as this was the first season without one of the two star receivers in the lineup.
In 2013, the Mounties won the Loney Bowl for the first time since 1997. They followed up that campaign with their first undefeated season in the AUS, posting an 8âÂÂ0 record en route to their second consecutive Jewett Trophy championship. In 2015, the Mounties finished in first place in the AUS regular season with a 5âÂÂ3 record and hosted the Loney Bowl for the second consecutive season. They were also looking to win their third consecutive Jewett Trophy but would end up falling short to the St. Francis Xavier X-Men 24âÂÂ18.
2016 would be the first season with Scott Brady as the team's new head coach, who had been with the team as an assistant coach since 2010. Brady was the first permanent head coach in the program's recent history who was both a Mount Allison graduate and former player for the Mounties. The team ended up making the playoffs as the second place team. They would defeat the Acadia Axemen 27âÂÂ18 to compete in their fourth straight Loney Bowl but would end up losing to the St. Francis Xavier X-Men 29âÂÂ8. In 2017, the team would see their five-year playoff streak come to an end as they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
Following a coaching change, with Peter Fraser as the team's new head coach, the team would regress further with a 2âÂÂ6 record. In 2019, Mount Allison brought in former CFL player and Acadia Axemen alumnus Kyle Graves to take over as Offensive Coordinator. The team lost their first four games of the season, but then won their next three and eventually finished with a 3âÂÂ5 record and enough to qualify for the playoffs but fell short in the first round to the Bishop's Gaiters in their second year in the AUS conference. Following the season, Graves left the team to be closer to his family.
Following the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Mounties saw a significant increase in their performance. They brought in recently retired CFL offensive linemen and Mountie Alumnus Mike Filer to act as Run Game Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach. However, FilerâÂÂs coaching career was ended when he decided to come out of retirement to return to the CFL for the 2021 season and Coach Fraser took over Offensive Coordinator duties.
During the 2021 U Sports football season, the team was able to put up their best record since 2014 with 5 wins and a single loss in the shortened regular season. The defensive unit led by perennial AUS All-Star defensive back Lucas Cormier and AUS Defensive MVP Daniel Bell, was ranked as the best in the Nation in most statistical categories. In contrast the Mounties Offence was ranked last nationally in all categories. In the post-season, the team fell short to the Bishop's Gaiters in the first round of the AUS playoff for the second-consecutive season.
In 2022, the Mounties had an up and down season finishing with a record of 4-4. Again, the defence was dominant in most statistical categories ending in the top 5 of all statistical categories. The post-season would prove to be much different for the Mounties squad as they were able to defeat their recent nemesis the Bishop's Gaiters in Lennoxville, Quebec bringing them to the Loney Bowl for the first time since 2016. However, the team was unable to defeat the AUS powerhouse St. Francis Xavier X-Men thus ending their season.
Following this defeat in the AUS Championship, the Mounties have seen a dramatic decline in their performance with the graduation of many of their key contributors to their previously dominant defence. In 2023, the Mounties record fell to 3-5 and failed to defeat the Gaiters in the first round of the AUS playoff.
In 2024, the Mounties had their worst season since 2009 finishing with a record of 1-7 and failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017. In the following offseason, head coach Peter Fraser resigned on March 10, 2025.
On May 8, 2025, Scott Brady returned as the Mounties' head coach, having previously served in the role in 2016 and 2017. On July 10, 2025, another former head coach, Kelly Jeffrey, joined the staff as the team's offensive coordinator.
Mount Allison is 2âÂÂ4 in national semi-final games and 0âÂÂ2 in the Vanier Cup.
As of the end of the 2025 CFL season, two former Mountie players were on CFL teams' rosters:
Former Mountie player (1991âÂÂ93) and assistant coach (1994âÂÂ97) Ted Goveia held the post of General Manager with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats until his death in 2025.