THE CANADIAN PRESS
CFL.ca Staff
TORONTO — What’s old is new for the Toronto Argonauts, as the team made offical on Thursday the signing of Defensive Coordinator Rich Stubler.
Stubler was the Argos’ defensive coordinator with great success from 2003 to 2007 and after spending the last two years with Calgary winning a Grey Cup in 2014, now he’ll replace Casey Creehan on the Argos’ coaching staff.
The team also confirmed Thursday that Creehan’s contract will not be renewed.
“Rich Stubler is a veteran coach who is an excellent defensive strategist,” said Argos head coach Scott Milanovich, set to enter his fifth season at the helm of the Argos. “Our players will benefit tremendously from his experience and we are fortunate to add him to our coaching staff as defensive coordinator.”
Stubler will be the Argos’ fourth defensive coordinator in as many years, yet his addition is expected to bring stability to an Argo defence that’s seemingly gone through constant change. A veteran of 28 CFL seasons and a five-time Grey Cup winner as a coach, Stubler returns to the Argonauts for his third stint with the Double Blue after first coaching the Argos in 1990, then re-joining them in 2003.
| Cornish calls it a career in Calgary |
|---|
An era of Calgary football has officially ended, as Jon Cornish joins Rich Stubler and John Hufnagel as Stampeders who will not regularly be seen on the sidelines or the field in 2016. Cornish called an end to his nine-year career on Wednesday. |
The move starts what will be a busy off-season for an Argos team taking on a different look in 2016. The Argos will have new ownership and move into a renovated BMO Field next season, their new identity led by incoming President and CEO Michael Copeland. Now that transformation begins extending onto the field, where Stubler will lead a new-look Argo defence.
“I look forward to coming back to Toronto and being part of the exciting future that is in store for the franchise,” said Stubler. “I have a great deal of respect for Scott Milanovich as a head football coach and I am anxious to get to work with him and his staff.
“He and Jim Barker, who I have known for many years on a personal and professional level, have done an outstanding job of navigating the team through a number of different challenges.”
Some of the most impressive seasons of Stubler’s coaching career came as an Argonaut when he held the defensive coordinator position from 2003 to 2007, as his unit was virtually impenetrable. The Argos allowed a league-low 163 touchdowns in 90 regular season games, or 1.81 touchdowns per game, over five seasons, and named 19 defensive players to the CFL All-Star team and 27 defensive players to the East Division squad.
Two Argos players, Jonathan Brown (2007) and Michael Fletcher (2005), were named finalists for the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player award.
While the Stampeders’ offence was among the CFL’s best during Stubler’s time in Calgary, the defence played an unheralded role in winning a Grey Cup in 2014 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. This season meanwhile, despite many injuries on that side of the ball, Calgary’s defence ranked third in the CFL in net yards.
Stubler’s contract with Calgary expires just as incoming head coach Dave Dickenson takes over the headset from long-time CFL coach John Hufnagel, who’s becoming the general manager only for the Stampeders.
“I would like to thank John Hufnagel and the Calgary Stampeders organization for two terrific years and for giving me an opportunity to be a coach near my wife’s family,” added Stubler. “I wish them the very best in the future.”
Stubler, famous for his ‘bend but don’t break’ defences, went to Calgary after brief stints with BC and Edmonton. Before that he was with the Argos from 2003 to 2007, leading the Boatmen to a Grey Cup in 2004 as a defensive coordinator before becoming a head coach in 2008. He was relieved of his duties halfway through that season after starting the year 4-6, while the Argos failed to win another game that year after his departure.
In 2015 under Creehan, a young and unexperienced Argo defence ranked eighth in points allowed and sixth in total yards. The Argos allowed the second-most passing yards in the league, scored the fewest points off turnovers and ranked seventh in the league with 46 sacks.
Stubler began his CFL coaching career in 1983 when he joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, helping lead the team to a Grey Cup championship in 1986. In 1990, Stubler spent one season as defensive coordinator for the Argonauts before joining the Edmonton Eskimos’ coaching staff for five seasons (1991-95), winning his second league championship in 1993.
After a two-year stint as defensive coordinator at the University of Oregon, he rejoined the Eskimos from 1998-99 before moving on to help the BC Lions capture the Grey Cup in 2000. He captured his fourth Grey Cup with the Toronto Argonauts in 2004 and a fifth title as defensive coordinator of the Calgary Stampeders in 2014.
