December 1, 2015

Rich Stubler Returns to Argos as Defensive Coordinator

Argonauts.ca Staff |

Toronto – The Toronto Argonauts Football Club officially announced today that Rich Stubler has been named the club’s Defensive Coordinator. A veteran of 28 CFL seasons and a five-time Grey Cup winner as a coach, Stubler returns to the Argonauts for his third campaign with the Double Blue (1990, 2003-08).

Commented Toronto Argonauts Head Coach, Scott Milanovich, “Rich Stubler is a veteran coach who is an excellent defensive strategist. Our players will benefit tremendously from his experience and we are fortunate to add him to our coaching staff as Defensive Coordinator.”

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Stubler held the Argos’ defensive coordinator position from 2003 to 2007 and his unit was virtually impenetrable. They 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.

Argonauts’ new Defensive Coordinator, Rich Stubler remarked, “I look forward to coming back to Toronto and being part of the exciting future that is in store for the franchise. 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.”

Stubler continued, “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. I wish them the very best in the future.”

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, the first of five in his career. 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 B.C. 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. He was named Head Coach of the Argonauts before the 2008 season.

The Toronto Argonauts also announced today that Casey Creehan’s contract as defensive coordinator will not be renewed.