CALGARY - He’s gone, but Kent Austin is certainly not forgotten.

And Austin wasn’t leaving the CFL without taking another award with him as he was named the CFL’s coach of the year Wednesday. That came just a month he left the Saskatchewan Roughriders to become the offensive co-ordinator at the University of Mississippi, his alma mater.

In his rookie season as a CFL head coach, Austin led the Riders to their first Grey Cup victory since 1989.

Saskatchewan posted a 12-6 record during the 2007 regular season and secured their first home playoff game since 1988 en route to the title.

“It has very little to do with me and a lot to do with everybody that played a part, big or small, in helping us be successful on and off the football field this year in Saskatchewan,” Austin said.

The 44-year-old from Natick, Mass., was voted the winner by the Football Reporters of Canada and beat out finalists Michael (Pinball) Clemons of the Toronto Argonauts and Wally Buono of the B.C. Lions.

Austin received 21 of 42 first-place votes ahead of Buono at 15 and Clemons with five.

Austin’s decision to return to Ole Miss just weeks after winning the Grey Cup stunned the Roughrider faithful.

Austin defused the awkwardness of accepting the award from a league that no longer employed him by continually praising the CFL and heaping credit on the Roughrider organization and their fans.

“I would feel the same way if I hadn’t won,” he said. “My station in life right now, I feel like I’m in the right place and I’ve done the right thing.

“My family is happy, but I’m really proud of this league and proud to be a part of this league, a great league with a lot of great coaches and great players. It’s a league everybody should be very proud of.”

Austin became the first Roughrider to be named coach of the year since John Gregory in 1989, when, coincidentally, Austin was quarterback of the Grey Cup champions that year.

He was a popular choice to replace Danny Barrett in December, 2006, because of his successful history with the Roughriders, but also somewhat risky due to his inexperience.

The football club advanced to the West final by beating Calgary 26-24 in the semifinal at home, which was the first playoff game at Mosaic Stadium in 19 years.

Saskatchewan then upset heavily-favoured B.C. 26-17 to at B.C. Place to earn a berth in their first championship game since 1997. The Roughriders then capped their campaign by beating Winnipeg 23-19 in Toronto.

Saskatchewan has won three Grey Cups and Austin has been instrumental in two of them. In coaching the Roughriders to a title 18 years after quarterbacking them to one, his aura became even more golden in that province.

Austin was described as a “a rock star” by his successor Ken Miller, who was promoted from offensive co-ordinator to replace him in Regina.

But Austin was all humility Wednesday.

“You do your job the best that you know how to do it,” he said. “This is a team sport, it’s about the players and it always is about the players and whatever part that I can have, whatever stop that I’m currently at, to help that organization be successful, that’s where I get my success and my gratitude from.”

Clemons has been a finalist for the award six times and never won, but he was thrilled for Austin on Wednesday.

“I felt there was only one choice today,” Clemons said.

Austin was his offensive co-ordinator in 2004 when they won a Grey Cup with the Argos. Clemons said his toughest day in football was firing him in 2006.

“I cried like a baby in that room, like boo-hoo cried,” Clemons recalled.

Clemons said Austin’s intelligence, leadership and ability to surround himself with a strong staff were just some of the ingredients to his success.

“He has that warm cosy that people don’t know about,” Clemons said. “He’s a wonderful family man and that is the essence of that team dynamic. I find coaches with a strong sense of family also have a strong sense and understanding of what a team is.”

Buono said Austin would have been his choice for coach of the year.

“I definitely would have voted for Kent when you look at what he accomplished throughout the season and in the playoffs,” he said. “Also what he accomplished outside of football within the organization and within the province, it was a tremendous feat.”

Austin played quarterback at Ole Miss from 1981 to 1985 and is not only the school’s second-leading passer but also a member of its Hall of Fame, which is what drew him to accept their offer even though he had two years remaining on his contract with Saskatchewan.

When asked, Austin didn’t rule out a return to the CFL in the future.

“I would never say ‘never,”’ he said. “It was a really hard decision (to leave) on a lot of levels. Not just professionally, it was hard on a personal level not just for myself and relationships that I left, but for my wife and children, the relationships that they left as well.

“At the end of the day, it’s what we felt like we were led to do and we felt it was the right thing and so we wanted to honour that.”