Canadian football player (1938–2024)
Dave Ritchie Date of birth (1938-09-03 ) September 3, 1938Place of birth
New Bedford, Massachusetts , U.S. Date of death March 9, 2024(2024-03-09) (aged 85) Place of death
Rumford, Rhode Island , U.S.
Position(s)
Head coach
Defensive coordinator
US college
Cincinnati High school
Withrow (
Cincinnati, Ohio ) 1962–1965
Greenbrier Military School (Assistant coach) 1966–1968 Greenbrier Military School (
Head coach ) 1969–1972
Cincinnati Bearcats (Linebackers coach) 1973–1977
Brown Bears (Linebackers coach) 1978–1982
Fairmont State Fighting Falcons (Head coach)
1983 –
1986
Montreal Concordes, Alouettes (
Defensive backs coach ) 1987–1988
Cincinnati Bearcats (
Defensive coordinator ) 1989
Milano Seamen (Asst. head coach/defensive coordinator) 1989
Marshall Thundering Herd (Defensive coordinator)
1990
Winnipeg Blue Bombers (
Defensive line coach , special teams coach)
1991 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Defensive backs coach)
1992
Ottawa Rough Riders (Defensive coordinator, defensive backs coach)
1993 –
1995
BC Lions (Head coach)
1996
Montreal Alouettes (Defensive coordinator)
1997 –
1998 Montreal Alouettes (Head coach)
1999 –
2004 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Head coach)
2005 –
2007 BC Lions (Defensive coordinator) 2011–2012
Zurich Renegades (Head coach)
Awards
Records
CFL's seventh all-time winningest coach (108 wins)
CFL coaching record 108–76–3
David F. Ritchie (September 3, 1938 – March 9, 2024) was an American
gridiron football coach in
college football , the
Canadian Football League (CFL), the
Italian Football League (IFL), and the
Swiss National League . He is best known for his time as the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach from
1999 to
2004 . He was a three-time
Grey Cup champion, having won in
1990 ,
1994 , and
2006 and was named the CFL's
Coach of the Year in
2001 . He won 108 regular season games as a head coach in the CFL which is the
seventh highest win total by a head coach in the league's history.
Early life and college career
Ritchie was born on September 3, 1938, in
New Bedford, Massachusetts .
[1]
[2] His father, also named Dave Ritchie, was one of the best running backs in the history of
New Bedford High School and the younger Ritchie hoped to follow in his footsteps. He was NBHS's starting quarterback for two seasons, but his family moved to
Cincinnati during his senior year.
[3] Ritchie was an All-Ohio fullback at
Withrow High School and played
college football as a
fullback ,
linebacker , and
punter for the
Cincinnati Bearcats from 1958 to 1960.
[3]
[4]
Coaching career
College coaching
Ritchie began his coaching career in 1962 as an assistant coach with
Greenbrier Military School .
[3] He became Greenbrier's head coach in 1966 and remained there until 1969, when he became linebackers coach at his alma mater, Cincinnati.
[5] He then joined the
Brown Bears as an assistant coach and head recruiter.
[6] Thereafter, Ritchie was the head coach for the
Fairmont State Fighting Falcons , from 1978 to 1982, where he compiled a 35–13–3 record.
[4]
[7]
Montreal Concordes, Alouettes
Ritchie first entered the
Canadian Football League as the defensive backfield coach for the
Montreal Concordes in
1983 , alongside
linebackers coach ,
Wally Buono .
[7]
[8]
Interlude
Ritchie re-joined the Cincinnati Bearcats as defensive coordinator in 1987.
[9] He then moved to Europe and was the defensive coordinator for the
Milano Seamen in the
Italian Football League in 1989 where the team finished with a 13–1 record before losing in the Italian championship game.
[10] He returned to the United States that spring as defensive coordinator at
Marshall .
[11]
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Ritchie returned to the CFL as the
defensive line coach and special teams assistant coach with the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers in
1990 , a year in which the Blue Bombers won the
78th Grey Cup .
[12] He was an assistant coach in
1991 , the same year when the Blue Bombers lost the East Final to the
Toronto Argonauts .
[13]
[14]
Ottawa Rough Riders
Ritchie was hired by the
Ottawa Rough Riders to become the team's
defensive coordinator for the
1992 season .
[6] The team led the CFL in 18 of 25 defensive categories that year and finished with a non-losing record for the first time since 1983.
[6]
BC Lions
In
1993 , Ritchie was named the head coach of the
BC Lions as he took over a team that had a 3–15 record in the year prior.
[6]
[15] The Lions immediately improved and finished with a 10–8 record that year, losing the West Semi-Final to the
Calgary Stampeders . In the
1994 season , after beginning the year 8–1–1, the Lions finished in third place with an 11–6–1 record.
[15] The Lions defeated the
Edmonton Eskimos
[16] and then the Calgary Stampeders in the playoffs
[17] to qualify for the
82nd Grey Cup against the
Baltimore Football Club .
[18] In the first ever
Grey Cup game to feature an
American team, Ritchie led his team to a 26–23 victory as the Lions won a Grey Cup in
Vancouver for the first time in club history and were also the first
West Division team to win the Grey Cup at home.
[15] In
1995 , the Lions ended their season with a 10–8 record, but were defeated by the Edmonton Eskimos in the North Semi-Final.
[19]
[20]
Montreal Alouettes (second stint)
Ritchie joined the
Montreal Alouettes in
1996 after the Alouetts moved from Baltimore,
[21] and as he was also on the coaching staff in 1987 when the Alouettes were last in the league.
[22] He was promoted to head coach in
1997
[23] and led the team to a 13–5 record,
[24] but lost the East Final to the defending
Grey Cup champion
Toronto Argonauts .
[25] In
1998 , the Alouettes finished with a 12–5–1 record,
[26] but lost the East Final on a last second field goal to the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats .
[27]
Winnipeg Blue Bombers (second stint)
Ritchie was hired away from the Alouettes in 1999 because of a more lucrative offer from the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers to become their head coach.
[28] The team had a 3–15 record the year before and Ritchie led the Blue Bombers to a 6–12 record in
1999 .
[29] After an East Final appearance in
2000 with a 7–10–1 record, the Blue Bombers demonstrated dominance in
2001 with a 14–4 record, tied for the most wins in franchise history.
[22] However, the heavily favoured Blue Bombers were upset by the 8–10
Calgary Stampeders in the
89th Grey Cup game by a score of 27–19.
[30]
[31] Following the game, Ritchie was critical of
placekicker ,
Troy Westwood , who missed three of four field goal attempts in the game.
[8]
[30]
Ritchie continued to coach the Blue Bombers with a 12–6 record in
2002 and an 11–7 record in
2003 , but the team was defeated in the playoffs in both years with no Grey Cup appearances.
[32]
[33] On August 8, 2004, with the Blue Bombers losing three in a row with a 2–5 record to begin
their season , Ritchie was relieved of head coaching duties.
[22] He finished his Blue Bomber tenure with the third-most wins in club history.
[12]
BC Lions (second stint)
Ritchie was hired by longtime associate,
Wally Buono , on February 25, 2005, to become the
defensive coordinator on the
BC Lions in
2005 .
[34] In
2006 , he won his third Grey Cup championship as the Lions won the
94th Grey Cup over the
Montreal Alouettes .
[8] After three seasons with the Lions, Ritchie retired following the end of the
2007 CFL season . He was considered for the
2008
Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach position, which he would have accepted, but the position went to
Ken Miller .
[35]
Zurich Renegades
Ritchie returned to the field in 2011 as head coach of the
Zurich Renegades
[36] in the
top level league in Switzerland , helping the team reach the semi-finals in 2012.
[10] Overall, he spent two seasons with the team.
[37]
Hall of Fame
Ritchie was named to the Fairmont State Hall of Fame in 2010, following five years as a head coach there with two conference titles and one
Coal Bowl victory in 1979.
[38] He is a member of the Blue Bomber Hall of Fame as the fourth-winningest head coach in team history with a record of 52–44–1 and winning a
Grey Cup as an assistant coach in 1990.
[12]
On June 21, 2022, it was announced that Ritchie would be enshrined in the
Canadian Football Hall of Fame in the Class of 2022 as a builder.
[39]
Personal life and death
Ritchie with his wife, Sharon, lived in
Rhode Island .
[4]
[8] They had three children, Phyllis, Susan, and Dave, and eight grandchildren.
[34] Ritchie died at his home in
Rumford on March 9, 2024, at the age of 85.
[40]
[41]
Head coaching record
College
Sources:
[42]
[43]
[44]
[45]
[46]
[47]
CFL
Team
Year
Regular season
Post-season
Ref.
Won
Lost
Ties
Win %
Finish
Won
Lost
Result
BC
1993
10
8
0
.556
4th in West Division
0
1
Lost in Division Semi-Finals
[48]
[49]
BC
1994
11
6
1
.639
3rd in West Division
3
0
Won
Grey Cup
[50]
[51]
[52]
BC
1995
10
8
0
.556
3rd in North Division
0
1
Lost in Division Semi-Finals
[53]
[54]
BC total
31
22
1
.583
0 West Division Championships
3
2
1 Grey Cup
[55]
MTL
1997
13
5
0
.722
2nd in East Division
1
1
Lost in Division Finals
[56]
[57]
MTL
1998
12
5
1
.694
2nd in East Division
1
1
Lost in Division Finals
[58]
[59]
MTL total
25
10
1
.708
0 East Division Championships
2
2
0 Grey Cups
[60]
WPG
1999
6
12
0
.333
4th in East Division
–
–
Missed Playoffs
[61]
[62]
WPG
2000
7
10
1
.412
3rd in East Division
1
1
Lost in Division Finals
[63]
[64]
WPG
2001
14
4
0
.778
1st in East Division
1
1
Lost in
Grey Cup
[65]
[66]
WPG
2002
12
6
0
.667
2nd in West Division
1
1
Lost in Division Finals
[67]
[68]
WPG
2003
11
7
0
.611
2nd in West Division
0
1
Lost in Division Semi-Finals
[69]
[70]
WPG
2004
2
5
0
.286
4th in West Division
–
–
Fired
[71]
WPG total
52
44
1
.532
1 East Division Championship
3
4
0 Grey Cups
[72]
Total
108
76
3
.587
1 East Division Championship
8
8
1 Grey Cup
[73]
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# denotes interim general manager
# denotes interim head coach
# denotes interim general manager