U of M football coach Brian Dobie fumbles, loses Vanier ring

Brian Dobie is always looking to recruit a ringer, but these days he's just trying to find his ring.

​The head coach of the University of Manitoba Bisons football team lost his 2007 Vanier Cup championship ring Sunday at Winnipeg's James Richardson International Airport.

​Dobie told CBC News he never takes the gold and diamond-encrusted ring off, except for that one time. He was at the airport just after 12 a.m. Sunday when he went to the washroom, loaded down with Christmas parcels and his briefcase.

"When I washed my hands, for whatever reason this time, just fate, I don't know what I was thinking, I took it off and put it down, walked over to dry my hands," he said.

"I'd left my Christmas gifts and I was worried about them. So I turned right away and went, 'Yep, 1,2,3,4, they're all there, good.' I grabbed them, scurried out, went back to the carousel and suddenly the weight felt different on my hand and I went, 'my ring!'"

When he went back to the washroom the ring was gone. Dobie estimates he was gone for less than a minute.

Next to the birth of his daughter, Dobie said the Bison's Vanier Cup win is the biggest day of his life.

The U of M tweeted about it Tuesday and urged anyone who finds it to call 204-474-9627.

Dobie has coached the team since 1996, leading them to two Canadian university championship games, winning in 2007.