Phil Roberts, a longtime football coach who spent several seasons with Queen's Gaels Football, has died.

Roberts joined the Gaels coaching staff in 2013, serving as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach. Based in Ottawa, he commuted to Kingston three times a week to volunteer with the program, earning the Volunteer Coach of the Year Award following the 2016 season.

Roberts' football career began as a player at McGill and Concordia universities, where he was an all-star linebacker in the late 1970s. He went on to coach at several levels of the game, including stops at Carleton University, Vanier College and Colonel By Secondary School in Ottawa. As head coach at Vanier College from 1987 to 1991, he led three championship teams.

His coaching experience also included stints with the Ottawa Renegades in 2003 and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2004, both of the Canadian Football League.

Outside football, Roberts worked as a teacher for more than three decades, spending 12 years with the PSBGM in Montreal and 19 years with the Ottawa-Carleton Public School Board.

Roberts remained involved with the Gaels after his initial tenure, returning to the coaching staff to work with the linebackers and defensive unit.