Former CFL head coach Dave Ritchie has passed away at the age of 85, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers announced on Saturday.
“Dave Ritchie was a respected leader during his days as Blue Bombers head coach and in his other coaching positions across the Canadian Football League, in the NCAA and in Europe,” Blue Bombers president & CEO Wade Miller said in a team statement. “He had a passion for his players and his teams and led both to great success. The Winnipeg Football Club offers our deepest sympathies to his wife Sharon, Dave’s family, and his many friends.”
A native of New Bedford, Mass., Ritchie began his CFL career as an assistant with the Montreal Concordes in 1983. He later spent time with the Bombers and Ottawa Rough Riders before landing his first head coaching job with the B.C. Lions in 1993. He would lead the team to a Grey Cup in just his second season at the helm, defeating the Baltimore Stallions in the most iconic championship game in league history.
After three seasons in Vancouver, Ritchie joined the Alouettes as defensive coordinator in 1996 and was promoted to head coach the following year. In 1999, he was poached by Winnipeg and enjoyed his longest tenure, serving until 2004. He sits fourth on the franchise’s all-time wins list behind Bud Grant, Mike O’Shea, and Cal Murphy.
Following his departure from the Bombers, Ritchie returned to the B.C. Lions as defensive coordinator and captured his third career Grey Cup in 2006. He would retire after the following season.
“Coach Ritchie was a champion at heart who represented the BC Lions with the utmost class and professionalism,” Lions’ co-general manager Neil McEvoy said in a statement. “Anyone who had the good fortune to work with him was better for it. He will be dearly missed by everyone across the Canadian Football League.”
Over 11 years as a CFL head coach, Ritchie posted a 108-76-3 record, retiring as the seventh-winningest coach in league history. He was named the CFL Coach of the Year in 2001 and earned induction into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
In addition to his CFL exploits, the University of Cincinnati alum spent time as an assistant with his alma mater as a young man. He enjoyed coaching stints with Brown University, Marshall University, and Fairmont State, where he went 35-13-3 as head coach from 1978 to 1982.
Ritchie also made his mark in Europe. He was co-head coach of the Milano Seamen in 1989 when they won the Italian title and then took over the Zurich Renegades in the Swiss League in 2011 and led them into the playoffs in 2012.
