Adam Rita (born September 21, 1947) is a

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

. 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 The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

, 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 season ...

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 The Bergamo Lions are an American football team from Bergamo, Italy established in 1983 and playing in the Italian Football League. They won the Eurobowl in 2000, 2001 and 2002, while losing to the Vienna Vikings in the finals of 2004 and 2005 Eu ...

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 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

in 2022.

College playing career

From 1965 to 1968, Rita attended

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a ...

playing center for the Boise State Broncos.

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 Co ...

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wāhine are the athletic teams that represent the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH), in Honolulu, Hawaii. The UH athletics program is a member of the Big West Conference in most sports and competes at ...

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 Thun ...

CIAU football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...

. 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 The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) 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 be ...

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 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 the Brick Field at Comm ...

as their offensive coordinator. The team went on to win the 81st Grey Cup that year. In 1994, Rita became the head coach of the

. 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 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) ...

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 the fi ...

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. 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 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. T ...

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

, 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 The European Football League (EFL) established in 1986, was a tournament for the best European American football teams affiliated to IFAF (International Federation of American Football - Europe), which replaced the European Federation of Americ ...

. In 2017–19, Rita served as the head coach and offensive coordinator of the

of the

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

German Football League 2 The German Football League 2 (GFL2) is the second tier of American football in Germany, below the German Football League The German Football League (GFL) is an American football league in Germany and was formed in 1979. Playing rules are based ...

. 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 identified ...

. 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

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 ''Blue Hawaii'' is a 1961 American musical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Elvis Presley. The screenplay by Hal Kanter was nominated by the Writers Guild of America in 1962 in the category of Best Written Amer ...

''. Rita is married to his wife Judit who is from

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

. 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 Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popu ...

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