Adam Rita (born September 21, 1947) is a gridiron football

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, most notably in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. He has served as the head coach of the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

, Ottawa Rough Riders, and

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first seas ...

and as general manager of the Lions and Argonauts. Since leaving the CFL in 2012, Rita has been coaching American football in Europe. Coaching the Bergamo Lions in the

Italian Football League Italian Football League (IFL) is the top level American football league in Italy established in 1980. History In the 1970's teams formed and played in Italy. In 1980 the first official American football league in Italy was established and crow ...

Calanda Broncos The Calanda Broncos are an American football team from Landquart, Switzerland. The club, formed in 1991 as the Landquart Broncos, changed its name in late 2008 after the Calanda mountain to show the club's desire to represent a larger region of ...

in Switzerland, Prague Panthers in Czech,

Berlin Adler The Berlin Adler ( en, Berlin Eagles) is an American football club based in Berlin, Germany. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the sport in Germany, having won six German Bowls as well as a ten ''Ladies Bowls'' and five ''Junior Bow ...

Germany, Barcelona Dragons in Spain, in the newly formed

European League of Football The European League of Football (ELF) is a professional American football league. The league (as of the 2023 season) consists of 17 teams located in Germany, Poland, Spain, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Czech Republic and France, with p ...

in 2021 and again the Bergamo Lions in 2022.

College playing career

From 1965 to 1968, Rita attended

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding ...

playing

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the

Boise State Broncos The Boise State Broncos are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Boise State University, located in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Moun ...

NCAA coaching career

From 1969 to 1976, Rita continued his tenure with the Boise State Broncos, serving as an assistant coach & recruiting director. After leaving Boise State, Rita's U.S. college coaching stints continued with the

UNLV Rebels The UNLV Rebels are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision for college football) as a member of the Mountain West Confe ...

& Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.

Coaching & GM career in Canadian football

In 1983, Rita began his first professional coaching tenure as the offensive co-ordinator for the B.C. Lions under head coach

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 second highest win total by a head ...

. In 1989, Rita left the CFL to join the coaching staff of the

UBC Thunderbirds The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia in the University Endowment Lands just outside the city limits of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thu ...

of CIAU football. In 1990, Rita rejoined Matthews in Toronto as offensive coordinator for the

. In 1991, after Matthews' departure, Rita became a first time CFL head coach for the Argonauts with whom he won his first and only Grey Cup championship as a head coach in that same year. In September 1992, after a 3–8 start to the season, Rita was fired as Argonauts head coach. In 1993, Rita joined the Edmonton Eskimos as their offensive coordinator. The team went on to win the

81st Grey Cup The 81st Grey Cup was the 1993 Canadian Football League championship game played between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta. The Eskimos defeated the Blue Bombers 33–23 to win the Grey Cup. ...

that year. In 1994, Rita became the head coach of the Ottawa Rough Riders. The team went on to finish their season with a 4-14. In 1995, Rita resigned as the Rough Riders' head coach to become the offensive coordinator for one of the new U.S. expansion teams in the CFL, the

Memphis Mad Dogs The Memphis Mad Dogs were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League. The Mad Dogs were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States. They played at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. ...

. In 1996, Rita reunited with Matthews, rejoining the Argonauts as their offensive coordinator in 1996. The team would go on to win the

84th Grey Cup The 84th Grey Cup, also known as The Snow Bowl, was the 1996 Grey Cup Canadian Football League championship game played between the Toronto Argonauts and the Edmonton Eskimos at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario. The Argonauts won the game b ...

that year. In 1997, Rita joined the B.C. Lions as both their new head coach and

. In 1998, Rita relinquished his head coaching responsibilities halfway through the season, focusing exclusively on his general manager duties. In 2002, after six games into the season, Rita took over as their interim head coach. In 2003, Rita returned to the Toronto Argonauts as their offensive coordinator serving under head coach

Pinball Clemons Michael Lutrell "Pinball" Clemons (born January 15, 1965) is an American-Canadian sports executive and former running back and return specialist who serves as general manager for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He i ...

who he used to coach. In 2004, Rita was promoted to General Manager and Vice President of Football Operations of the Argonauts. Toronto won the

92nd Grey Cup The 92nd Grey Cup game took place on November 21, 2004, at Frank Clair Stadium in Ottawa, Ontario. The game decided the championship of the 2004 Canadian Football League season. The Toronto Argonauts defeated the BC Lions 27–19. This is t ...

in his first year on the job, but managed only a 48–60 record after that. Rita's contract was not renewed following the 2010 season and he was replaced by head coach

Jim Barker James Barker (born August 25, 1956) is a senior advisor for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Barker has been the general manager of the Calgary Stampeders from 2005-07, and the Argonauts from 2011-2016. He was also th ...

. During his CFL tenure, Rita won 6 Grey Cups in 8 appearances in his capacities as head coach, offensive coordinator, and general manager. In 2012, Rita retired from the CFL and turned to high school football coaching, becoming an assistant coach & offensive coordinator with the

Trinity College School Trinity College School (TCS) is a co-educational, independent boarding and day school located in Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. TCS was founded on May 1, 1865, more than two years before Canadian Confederation. It includes a Senior School ...

football team in

Port Hope, Ontario Port Hope is a municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Toronto and about west of Kingston. It is located at the mouth of the Ganaraska River on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in the west end of Northumberland County. ...

. In 2016, Rita moved from Trinity College School to the "Football North" program at

Clarkson Secondary School Clarkson Secondary School is a high school in Clarkson community of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada; designateWard 18by the Peel District School Board. Clarkson is an average school in both population (11th, at 866 students) and age (13th, built in ...

in Mississauga as their assistant coach and offensive coordinator. In 2019, Rita was elevated to assistant head coach.

Coaching career in Europe

Rita discovered Europlayers.com which serves as a job website for European sports. This led to his first European coaching job in 2012 as the head coach for the Prague Panthers in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, where the team finished as Czech league runner up losing in the Czech Bowl championship game. The Panthers also competed in the

Austrian Football League The Austrian Football League (AFL) is the highest level of American football in Austria founded in 1984. The Austrian Football League (AFL) has always been considered among the best and strongest leagues in Europe. The league plays by rules based ...

top level. In 2013–14, Rita served as the head coach of the

in Switzerland

Nationalliga A (American football) The Nationalliga A is the highest league level of American football in Switzerland and was formed in 1982. The first Swiss Bowl championship was played in 1986. Below the ''Nationalliga A'' sits the ''Nationalliga B'', also made up of six teams. T ...

winning the Swiss Bowl championship in 2013 and finishing runner up losing in the Swiss bowl in 2014. The team also competed in the European Football League. In 2017–19, Rita served as the head coach and offensive coordinator of the Bergamo Lions of the

. In 2020, Rita was named as the new head coach for the

of the

German Football League 2 The German Football League 2 (GFL2) is the second tier of American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players ...

. Unfortunately, the 2020 season was not played due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In 2021, Rita was named as the first ever head coach for the Spanish-based team Gladiators Football, later rebranded as Barcelona Dragons, of the newly formed

. In 2022, Rita returned to the Bergamo Lions in Italy as head coach. The Lions are competing in the second tier of the Italian League.

Personal life

Rita grew up on Kaua'i, Hawai'i and as a young boy, he was a member of a canoe club and appeared paddling a canoe in the wedding scene of the

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

movie '' Blue Hawaii''. Rita is married to his wife Judit who is from

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. He also has two sons, Kevin and Harrison, and two grandchildren, Seth and Jennifer. As of 2020, Rita and his wife reside in Mississauga, Ontario.

CFL GM record

CFL coaching record

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts profile

ADAM RITA CONTINUING PASSION FOR COACHING IN RETIREMENT (CFL.ca column on Adam Rita)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rita, Adam 1947 births BC Lions coaches BC Lions general managers Boise State Broncos football players Boise State Broncos football coaches Edmonton Elks coaches Living people Ottawa Rough Riders coaches Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football coaches Native Hawaiian people Naturalized citizens of Canada People from Kauai County, Hawaii Sportspeople from Hawaii Sportspeople from Mississauga Toronto Argonauts coaches Toronto Argonauts general managers UNLV Rebels football coaches Players of American football from Hawaii Coaches of American football from Hawaii Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Spain UBC Thunderbirds football coaches Memphis Mad Dogs coaches European League of Football coaches Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Italy American expatriate players of American football