Leo Cahill (July 30, 1928 – February 15, 2018) was an American

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 ...

and

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 ...

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 ...

, much of it spent with 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 ...

Early life

Cahill was born on July 30, 1928 in Utica, Illinois and later attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

on a football scholarship. He appeared as a player in the 1947 Rose Bowl. After leaving college, Cahill served in the United States Army during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Career

Following his honourable discharge from the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, Cahill ascended the coaching ranks through various colleges, including his alma mater. He began his Canadian Football League career in the 1960s as an assistant coach with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...

before moving to Toronto with the then

Toronto Rifles The Toronto Rifles were a minor-league professional American football team active between 1964 and 1967. It was based in Toronto, Ontario. The team's home fields were Maple Leaf Stadium (1965) and Varsity Stadium from 1966 to 1967.http://virology-on ...

of the Continental Football League. He was appointed head coach of the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Argonauts in 1967, retaining the position until 1972, returning again in the 1977 and 1978 seasons. He would later serve as General Manager for the team from 1986 to 1988. In his time with the Argonauts he was credited with bringing in such greats such as

Mel Profit Mel Profit (born July 30, 1941 in New York, New York) was a football player in the CFL for six years. He was selected originally by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1963 NFL Draft. He starred as a tight end for the Toronto Argonauts. Mel authored ...

Jim Stillwagon James R. Stillwagon (February 11, 1949 – February 4, 2018) was an American football player who played five years in the Canadian Football League and was a two-time All-American during his college career. Stillwagon was a three-year starter ...

, Jim Corrigall, Leon McQuay and

Joe Theismann Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949) is an American former professional football player, sports commentator, corporate speaker and restaurateur. He rose to fame playing quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canad ...

. Cahill was also the general manager for the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1996; he was the team's last GM in their 120-year history as they folded at the end of the season. From 2004 onward, Cahill served as goodwill ambassador for the Argonauts. He also served as a colour commentator for CFL telecasts on CBC between 1981 and 1985. Cahill was inducted into the

Ontario Sports Hall of Fame The Ontario Sports Hall of Fame is an association dedicated to honouring athletes and personalities with outstanding achievement in sports in Ontario, Canada. The hall of fame was established in 1994 by Bruce Prentice, following his 15-year tenure ...

in 2013 in recognition of his contributions to the Argonauts franchise.

Death

Leo Cahill died at an

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

hospital on February 15, 2018 at the age of 89, and is survived by five children: Steve, Christy, Terry, Lisa and Bettye.

References

External links

CFL.ca profile

"Argos’ legend Cahill has eye on 100th Grey Cup"
1928 births 2018 deaths United States Army personnel of the Korean War Canadian Football League announcers Illinois Fighting Illini football coaches Illinois Fighting Illini football players People from North Utica, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Continental Football League coaches Toronto Argonauts coaches Toronto Argonauts general managers Ottawa Rough Riders general managers {{Canadianfootball-bio-stub