TORONTO — Rich Stubler, who served as an assistant coach or head coach with six different CFL teams, has died. He was 74.
An official at Clearwater Academy International, a prep school in Florida where Stubler had served as defensive co-ordinator, confirmed Stubler’s passing.
The cause of death wasn’t immediately known.
Stubler, of Glenwood Springs, Colo., first came to Canada in 1983 as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ defensive co-ordinator, a post he led through 1986.
He also spent time with the Toronto Argonauts, Edmonton Elks, B.C. Lions, Calgary Stampeders and Montreal Alouettes, sometimes having multiple stints with an organization.
For example, Stubler had four different tenures with Toronto, including as head coach in 2008 but was fired after compiling a 4-6 record through 10 games.
Stubler also had multiple stints with Edmonton and B.C., either as a defensive co-ordinator or position coach. His final CFL season was in 2021 and fittingly, it was with Toronto where he served as a defensive assistant.
Stubler then shifted to Clearwater Academy International, a school that’s prepared a number of Canadian players for the NCAA ranks. That includes Isaiah Thomas, a defensive back at Clearwater from Markham, Ont., who has committed to playing at the University of Miami.
“Coach Stubler runs a very advanced defence that we all had to learn,” Thomas told The Canadian Press earlier this year. “I’m with him every day, he’s showing me different formations, different schemes.
“He’s seen so much as a football coach and all I can definitely do is try and grasp all of that.”
Clearwater Academy International won a second straight state title during Stubler’s first season with the program.
Not surprisingly, tributes to Stubler poured in on social media as news of his passing circulated.
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“RIP Coach Stubbs,” tweeted Montreal defensive lineman Shawn Lemon. “Just talk to you last week.
“You believed in me when no one else did, You will be missed coach.”
Hall of Fame receiver Nik Lewis, now a receivers coach with Calgary, echoed similar sentiments.
“RIP Stubb” he tweeted. “Glad I got to work with you.
“Very sad day.”
Added the Montreal Alouettes: “The Alouettes are saddened to learn of the passing of former coach Rich Stubler. Our condolences go out to his family and friends.”
Stubler was part of five Grey Cup-winning teams during his time in Canada and was regarded as one of the CFL’s most innovative defensive coaches. One of his championship seasons was in 2014 as Calgary’s defensive co-ordinator.
“Rich was a football junkie,” Calgary head coach/GM Dave Dickenson said. “He lived his life to the fullest.
“We will miss his spirit but we are thankful to have had him as part of our Stampeders family.”
Stubler spent two seasons in Calgary, where the Stampeders boasted one of the CFL’s stingiest defences. The club allowed 347 points in 2014 and 346 in ’15, finishing second overall in that category in each of those seasons.
And Jean Lefebvre, Calgary’s communications director, took to social media to pass on one of his favourite Stubler stories.
“So many memories of Stubes,” Lefebvre tweeted. “One was quickly learning that he most definitely did not want a copy of the post-game stats report.
“’Did the score change,” he would ask. Uhh, no. ‘Then I don’t need to see the stats.“’
Stubler’s coaching resume also included stops in the NCAA at Colorado, New Mexico, Southern Methodist, Colorado State, New Mexico State, Oregon as well as the Arena Football League’s Detroit Fury.