Richie Hall (born October 4, 1960) is the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

for 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. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

of 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 was formerly the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of 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 Commo ...

from 2009 to 2010.

Early years

Hall was born October 4, 1960, in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, Texas. He was in a car accident as a child that catapulted him through the windshield of the car and nearly killed him, leaving him with permanent scars above his right eye. He was a star two-way

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 on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player in high school despite his height of just .

Playing career

Hall was a walk on

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player at

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

, where he majored in social work. Hall originally signed with the Stampeders in May 1983 and, in his rookie season, was a CFL All-Star

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

playing in 16 games recording four

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

s and two

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

recoveries. He also returned 50 punts on special teams for 561 yards including one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

and one

kickoff return A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in gridiron football. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team". The receiving team is then entitled to ''return ...

for 12 yards. He earned West Division All-Star honours in the

1986 CFL season The 1986 CFL season is considered to be the 33rd season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 29th Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 1986 The Canadian Football League decided that all nine teams will play 18 g ...

for his defensive work recording 4 sacks, 8 interceptions for 116 yards, and 1 fumble recovery for 50 yards. He also returned 16 punts that year for 260 yards. He was traded to the Roughriders in May 1988 for a fourth-round pick in the 1989 CFL Draft and returned as a 1988 CFL season and

1990 CFL season The 1990 CFL season is considered to be the 37th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 33rd Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 1990 J. Donald Crump was appointed as the eighth CFL Commissioner on Friday, ...

West Division All-Star. In all, he appeared in 153 career regular-season games between 1983 and 1991 playing both defensive back and

punt returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

, was a four-time West Division all-star, a League All-Star in 1983, a

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 ...

champion in 1989, and was selected for the

Tom Pate Memorial Award Tom Pate Memorial Award, selected annually by the Canadian Football League Players' Association, is awarded to a player with outstanding sportsmanship and someone who has made a significant contribution to his team, his community and Association. T ...

in 1990. After being released by the Roughriders, Hall used his social work degree and got a job at Regina's Cornwall Alternative School for high-risk kids and joined Regina's

Archbishop M.C. O'Neill High School Archbishop M.C. O'Neill High School is a Catholic secondary education institute located in the Coronation Park neighbourhood of north Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. It is officially designated as a commu ...

football coaching staff in 1993 before embarking on his professional coaching career.

Coaching career

In 1994, Hall was hired by the Roughriders to coach their

field and worked his way up to

by 2000. He gained a reputation as one of the top minds for defensive schemes in the CFL and served as Saskatchewan's defensive coordinator for eight years including the

95th Grey Cup The 95th Grey Cup was held in Toronto at the Rogers Centre on November 25, 2007. The Grey Cup, first awarded in 1909, is the championship game of the Canadian Football League. It was played between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Winnipeg ...

victory for Saskatchewan in 2007. His 2008 Saskatchewan Roughriders defence finished the season with the best in fewest yards allowed (354 per game), second in pass defence (266 yards per game) and fewest passing TDs allowed (28) and third in fewest TDs (44) and points allowed (25.1 per game). Hall interviewed for at least seven head coaching positions beginning after the

2004 CFL season The 2004 CFL season is considered to be the 51st season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 47th Canadian Football League season. CFL News in 2004 Neil Payne retired from his position as Director of Officiating in Febr ...

and, on December 17, 2008, Hall was hired as the head coach for the Edmonton Eskimos, the first

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

head coach in the Edmonton Eskimos history. When looking for a new coach, Eskimos General Manager

Danny Maciocia Danny Maciocia (born May 26, 1967) is the head coach and general manager of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was previously head coach of the Université de Montréal Carabins football team. He is also the former ...

said he asked his quarterbacks to name the toughest defensive co-ordinator they've played against and was given the unanimous response of Richie Hall. Hall has said that he wants his players to enjoy the game, work hard, appreciate everything, and take nothing for granted. "I want our players to have a selfless attitude. I want them to be there for each other," Hall said. "I like to think football is a way for them to live their lives." Richie Hall Grey Cup Parade

During his first training camp as

, arguably the most competitive battle was between Tumbo Abanikanda and Mark Restelli for the starting

weakside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

spot. Hall stated that he hoped the battle would end when,"one player outperforms the other player". Eventually, Abanikanda was released with Restelli winning the job. On November 12, 2010, Hall was fired as the Eskimos head coach after two seasons coaching the team. On February 1, 2011, it was announced that Hall had rejoined the Roughriders as their defensive coordinator. Hall was hired as the defensive coordinator for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on January 20, 2015.

Early years

Playing career

Coaching career

CFL coaching record

References

Further reading