Feb 10 2026
New coach aims to strike right note with contending London Beefeaters
Scott Wilkinson loves the sound of his gig with the London Beefeaters.
“It’s a great program,” the newly hired head coach of the long-time Ontario Football Conference entry said. “There’s so much history there and so many guys have come through it. I don’t take it lightly and I’m excited to dive in with the guys.”
If they enjoy home-grown country music, they’re in for a treat. Wilkinson has spent the past 12 years as keyboard player and tour manager for singer Eric Ethridge, a Sarnia-raised melody maker who used to grace the gridiron for the Western Mustangs.
“That’s been an awesome ride,” he said. “He has two gold records and has toured all over Canada.”
Free plug? Ethridge is performing Sunday at 100 Kellogg Lane.
Wilkinson spent chunks of his childhood both throwing passes and studying tunes. The Byron native started in the London Minor Football Association, played at St. Thomas Aquinas and enrolled for a spell in Western’s music program.
Now a commercial banker, he coached in the LMFA ranks for 15 years, helped in the high school ranks and was part of the Forest City Thunderbirds varsity squad since 2012. He recently served three years as president of London minor football and helped build the grassroots of the local game.
“London is a powerhouse from LMFA to Western,” he said. “There is a great path at age seven all the way up. We’ve had players with opportunities to play university ball and some have gone down to the (United) States. This was their first experience in football and we took that very seriously.
“We were cautious with every decision we made because we don’t know who the next Chase and Sydney Brown will be. If it doesn’t run to the level we have, then maybe they don’t end up in the NFL and maybe Sydney doesn’t get a Super Bowl ring.
“When it’s done right, it can be effective in building young men and women. There are opportunities for everyone.”
The Beefs, part of the Canadian Junior Football League, are aimed at players up to age 22. They offer a structured and demanding program and – unlike teams like St. Clair and Sault College – are not directly affiliated with a post-secondary school.
“I’ve come to enjoy the mentorship side of things,” Wilkinson said. “We want to win a championship. That’s what I got brought in to do, but success is turning those young men into good employees, good husbands and good fathers. The players probably look at themselves as full-grown men (in their 20s) but it’s such a pivotal time for development, making good choices, learning how to deal with adversity, being accountable and putting your full effort into something and caring about it is actually cool.
“That’s what I preach and what we’re going to build the foundation around.”
Wilkinson is still in the process of rounding out his coaching staff ahead of the 2026 season. He stressed that his management style is about empowerment.
“This is not a dictatorship of micro-managing everything,” he said. “It’s that inverted triangle where the leader is at the bottom supporting everyone.”
Wilkinson replaces Matt Snyder, who guided the Beefs to three OFC finals in four years at the helm. The local football fixture stepped down due to increasing work and family commitments but will return to the London Jr. Mustangs for the summer season.
“We’ve got a great team,” Wilkinson said. “They were really young last year so we have a ton of returning players. We’ve been actively recruiting and Matt left us in really good shape on that side. We’ve been friends for a long time and work really closely through the transition so I can pick up those conversations we’ve been having with the recruits.”
London makes no bones about it. The Beefs are building a team they hope will finally take down the rival St. Clair Saints, the enduring powerhouse in the six-team conference.
If Wilkinson can get them back into a national final, that would be sweet music to everyone’s ears around here.