Ray Jauch ( ; born February 11, 1938) is an American former

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

player and coach. He was head coach in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL), the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL), and the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). He won 127 regular season games in the CFL, the sixth highest win total by a head coach in the league's history.

Playing career

A star high school athlete, Jauch played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. He was a running back for the national champion 1958 Iowa Hawkeyes, leading the nation in yards per carry. He played in the 1959 Rose Bowl against

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Despite being drafted by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

in the

1960 American Football League draft The 1960 American Football League draft was held on November 22–23, 1959, in Minneapolis, shortly after the organization of the league, and lasted 33 rounds. An additional draft of 20 rounds was held by the AFL on December 2. Teams were requ ...

, he went to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

to launch his pro career in the CFL. His career came to an abrupt halt when he suffered a torn

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

in the 49th Grey Cup.

Coaching career

After his injury, for a year Jauch was sports director at United College in Winnipeg. The next year, he entered coaching and in 1964 returned to Iowa as an assistant on Jerry Burns' staff. Two years later, it was back to Canada where Jauch accepted a position on Neill Armstrong's

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

staff. When Armstrong left in 1970 to join

Bud Grant Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (May 20, 1927 – March 11, 2023) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). Grant was head coach of the NFL's Minnesota Viki ...

in Minnesota, Jauch was elevated to head coach. Jauch coached football in the CFL from 1970 to 1982. He coached the

from 1970 to 1976. He had a 64–43–4 record, appearing in three

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

s, winning in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, and won the Annis Stukus Trophy for coach of the year in 1970. He stepped down as head coach following the 1976 season to become director of football operations. From 1978 to 1982, as coach of the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

, Jauch had a 45–35 record. He won the Annis Stukus Trophy, as CFL coach of the year, in 1980. After the 1982 season, Jauch returned to the United States as coach of the USFL's Washington Federals. In the Federals expansion season, the team had a 4–14 record. Jauch was fired after the first game of the 1984 season, a 53–14 loss to the expansion

Jacksonville Bulls The Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League (USFL) during its final two seasons, 1984 and 1985. They played their home games in the Gat ...

Offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

Dick Bielski replaced Jauch for the final 17 games. In 1986 and 1987, Jauch coached the Washington-Lee Generals Virginia High School league HSLteam in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

. He was assisted by ex-Virginia running back David Hall, who played one year for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In 1987 Jauch was hired to coach the Chicago Bruisers of the new

. His team, which include future NFL head coach Sean Payton, finished with a 2–4 record. After being fired by the Bruisers, Jauch served as the head coach of Madison High School (1988) and Saint Ambrose University (1990) and the Arena Football League's director of operations (1989) before returning to the CFL as the offensive coordinator of the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

. He served as acting head coach for two games while

Don Matthews Donald J. Matthews, a.k.a. "the Don", (June 22, 1939 – June 14, 2017) was a head coach of several professional football teams, mostly in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He won 231 games in the CFL, the List of Canadian Football League hea ...

was in the hospital following emergency appendectomy. In 1994, he was promoted to head coach. In his two seasons as Roughriders head coach, he had an 18-20 record. In 1996, he coached the AFL's Minnesota Fighting Pike to a 4–10 record. One of his "finds" was signing a college free agent in West Virginia kicker Mike Vanderjagt. He released Vanderjagt after just two games. Jauch is currently the defensive coordinator for Metrolina Christian Academy. Jauch was announced as a member of the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

2024 class, as a builder, on May 3, 2024.

Family

Jauch's sons, Jim Jauch, is currently a college scout for the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

and Joey Jauch, both played college football at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

and professionally in the CFL. A third son, Jeff Jauch, is the owner of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

References

External links

Ray Jauch's AFL coaching record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jauch, Ray 1938 births Living people American football running backs Canadian football running backs Canadian Football League executives Carolina Cobras coaches Chicago Bruisers coaches Edmonton Elks coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football players Minnesota Fighting Pike coaches St. Ambrose Fighting Bees football coaches Orlando Renegades coaches Winnipeg Blue Bombers players High school football coaches in Virginia People from Mendota, Illinois Sportspeople from LaSalle County, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Educators from Illinois