Ray Jauch ( ; born February 11, 1938) is an American former gridiron football player and coach. He was head coach 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 ...

(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 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. 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 at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a 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 into 12 col ...

. 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 The 1959 Rose Bowl was the 45th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Thursday, January 1. The heavily-favored and second-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten Conference defeated the #16 Cal ...

against

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Despite being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the

1960 American Football League Draft The 1960 American Football League draft was held on November 23–24, 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 province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

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 calcaneus ( ...

in the

49th Grey Cup The 49th Grey Cup was the Canadian Football League's championship game of the 1961 season on December 2, 1961. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21–14 at CNE Stadium in Toronto before 32,651 fans. It is considered to ...

Coaching career

After his injury, for a y ear 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 Neill Ford Armstrong (March 9, 1926 – August 10, 2016) was an American football player and coach whose career spanned more than four decades at both the college and professional levels. Notably, Armstrong served as the head coach of the ...

's Edmonton Eskimos staff. When Armstrong left in 1970 to join

Bud Grant Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (born May 20, 1927) is a former head coach and player of American football, Canadian football, and a former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Grant served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings ...

in Minnesota, Jauch was elevated to head coach. Jauch coached football in the CFL from 1970 to 1982. He coached the Edmonton Eskimos from 1970 to 1976. He had a 64–43–4 record, appearing in three Grey Cups, winning in 1975, and won the

Annis Stukus Trophy The Annis Stukus Trophy is a Canadian Football League trophy, which is presented annually by the Edmonton Eskimos Alumni Association to the Coach of the Year, as determined by the members of the Football Reporters of Canada. The Trophy is named aft ...

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. They play their home games at IG Fie ...

, Jauch had a 45–35 record. He won the

, 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 Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. 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 Gator ...

. Offensive coordinator

Dick Bielski Richard Adam Bielski (born September 7, 1932) is a former American football player and coach. He played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, and Baltimore Colts. Bielski played college ...

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 is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

. 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 Madison High School may refer to: * Madison County High School (Alabama), Gurley, Alabama * Madison High School (Idaho), Rexburg, Idaho * Madison Consolidated High School, Madison, Indiana * Madison High School (Kansas), Madison, Kansas * Kentuc ...

(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 ...

. 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 second highest win total by a head ...

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 Michael John Vanderjagt ( ; born March 24, 1970) is a Canadian former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, primarily with the Indianapolis Colts. He served as the Colts' placekicker from 1998 to ...

. He released Vanderjagt after just two games. Jauch is currently the defensive coordinator for Metrolina Christian Academy.

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 Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

and Joey Jauch, both played college football at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

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, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. The USHL is strictl ...

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 United States Football League coaches Winnipeg Blue Bombers players High school football coaches in Virginia People from Mendota, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Educators from Illinois