TORONTO, Ontario — Scott Milanovich had one thing on his mind following Tuesday's Grey Cup victory parade through the streets of downtown Toronto.

Sleep.

“I'm pretty tired,” the 39-year-old Butler graduate and first-year Toronto Argonauts head coach said. “It's been a crazy few weeks and I haven't slept much.

“I'm looking forward to a month off and enjoying a lot of time with family. I haven't seen them much lately.”

What he has been seeing is a bevy of gutsy victories that led the Argos to their first Grey Cup championship since 2004.

Toronto was only 7-9 with two regular season games remaining on the Canadian Football League schedule this season.

“We lost our quarterback (Ricky Ray) to a knee injury and didn't have him for five games,” Milanovich said. “We struggled without him (2-3), but when we got him back, we seemed to catch fire.

“Everything seemed to come together for us.”

Toronto defeated Saskatchewan 31-26 and Hamilton 43-40 to close the regular season at .500. The Argos then rallied from 10-0 deficits to defeat Edmonton (42-26) and Montreal (27-20) to reach the Grey Cup game. Both teams swept the Argos during the regular season.

Toronto acquired Ray from Edmonton in a major trade two weeks after Milanovich was hired as head coach. Ray completed 321 of 468 passes for 4,059 yards and 20 touchdowns after a slow start.

“The day we got Ricky, I thought we had a chance,” Milanovich said of winning the Grey Cup. “You need a great quarterback to succeed in this league, especially when you only have three downs to get a first down.

“It's extremely difficult to trade for a quality quarterback up here, but our general manager (Jim Barker) pulled it off.

“Our offense is a lot different from anything Ricky's done and it took him a while to adjust. The way we read things, go through our progressions from the quarterback position ... It's different. But in the last seven games, Ricky threw 15 touchdowns passes and only two interceptions,” Milanovich added.

When Milanovich's team defeated Montreal, it knocked out the franchise with which Milanovich was associate head coach and won Grey Cup titles with in 2009 and 2010.

“Montreal had been our bugaboo, the team we couldn't get over the hump against,” Milanovich said. “I do know a lot of people over there and the finality of the playoffs made that game a little strange for me.”

But winning championships is something he's getting used to.

“Being a champion never gets old,” Milanovich said of his third Grey Cup title in four years. “Each game, you look for ways to get better. Finishing on top is why you play and why you coach.”

The Argos threw an interception on the first play of the Grey Cup game, but cruised to a 35-22 victory over Calgary to win the championship. The Stampeders were coached by former Penn State quarterback John Hufnagel, a former WPIAL signal-caller (Montour) like Milanovich.

Toronto defeated Calgary three times this season.

Besides Ray, Milanovich had the CFL Player of the Year and league all-purpose yardage (3,838 yards) record holder Chad Owens, emerging running back Chad Kackert (638 yards) and defensive end Ricky Foley (top Canadian player in Grey Cup game) on his side.

Kackert and Foley are now free agents.

“Twelve to 14 players on our team are from the Toronto area, so watching them celebrate this championship in their hometown was a special thing to see,” Milanovich said. “But we know our roster won't be the same next year.

“Jim and I will get together in a month and start retooling for next year. Free agency will affect us, I'm sure.”

Milanovich's contract was rewritten and extended prior to the CFL playoffs.

“I never look too far into the future,” Milanovich said. “I'm very happy in Toronto. I was a first-year head coach and I know I made mistakes. There are things I can do to get better and our team can get better.

“We have to get better if we expect to stay on top.”