Football | 12/5/2025 1:00:00 PM
The York University Lions football program has hired Jamie Cook as its new offensive coordinator, the team announced Friday.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to be joining the Lions coaching staff," Cook said. "It's a very exciting time for this program. Coach Janke has done a tremendous job resetting the standard within the York Lions Football program. I am eager and excited to help him continue to build this program and develop student-athletes at York University both on and off the field."
Cook comes to York from the Toronto Varsity Blues, where he served as the quarterbacks coach in 2024 before assuming the role of the co-offensive coordinator and passing game coordinator, along with his quarterbacks coach duties this past season.
He supported an offence in 2024 that saw quarterback Kaleb O'Donoghue lead all OUA rookies in passing yards, including throwing for 268 yards and two touchdowns in his OUA debut. In 2025, Cook helped orchestrate a Blues offence that saw pivot Scott Barnett rank second in the nation in completions and fourth in passing yards, with his passing yards mark being the second-highest in school history. Barnett also broke the OUA single-game record for passing yards with 614 against Carleton. Additionally, four Toronto receivers were ranked in the top seven nationally in yards per game, while Cook's offence ranked eighth on the school's all-time total yards list with 3,142.
Cook, a native of Collingwood, Ont., brings with him plenty of other coaching experience at the OUA, rep and high school levels. He spent two seasons (2022-23) with the Waterloo Warriors as the quarterbacks coach, the program with which he played 23 games behind centre from 2012-14.s Simultaneously while coaching at Waterloo, he was the quarterbacks coach of the varsity (U18) Huronia Stallions Ontario Summer Football League (OSFL) AA championship-winning team in 2022, which went a perfect 11-0 en route to the Sandy Ruckstuhl Cup. The next year, he was the offensive coordinator of Huronia's junior varsity (U16) program that also went 11-0 and won the OSFL title, designing and implementing an offence that led the league in points.
Cook's first coaching job came at his former high school, Collingwood C.I., where he was the offensive coordinator for the school's junior (Gr. 9-10) team. The Owls went 7-1 record and captured both a Simcoe County Athletic Association (SCAA) and Georgian Bay Secondary School Association (GBSSA) championship in 2021.
As a player at Waterloo, the Lions newest hire spent three seasons with the black and gold, and played in 23 games, completing 247 passes for 2,693 yards and 11 touchdowns.
York head coach Dexter Janke is looking forward to seeing the influence Cook will have on an offence that finished fifth in the country in total yards in 2025.
"We're extremely excited to welcome Jamie Cook to our coaching staff. Jamie brings a proven track record of developing quarterbacks and designing high-powered offenses," Janke said. "His energy, attention to detail, and ability to connect with student athletes will have an immediate impact on our program. We're confident his leadership and expertise will help our offense and continue to build the culture we're striving for here at York."
Cook's first official day as Lions offensive coordinator is December 10.
