Coach Rich Stubler

1949 - 2023

Coach Rich Stubler Rich Stubler recently passed away from natural causes in Clearwater, Florida. Rich grew up in Glenwood Springs, Colorado and was active in sports. He earned a football scholarship to the University of Wyoming where he played for one year. An injury would lead him to transfer to the University of Northern Colorado where he earned his teaching degree. Rich started his teaching and coaching career at Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale, CO in 1971. From there he went on to coach collegiately at the University of Colorado, New Mexico State, Southern Methodist University, and Colorado State.

Rich began his professional coaching career in 1983. He spent the next thirty-one years coaching in the Canadian Football League (Toronto, Hamilton, Edmonton, BC, Calgary, Montreal) where his teams made it to the conference finals twenty-two times. He coached in nine Grey Cup Championships, winning five. Rich's coaching career also included stints in the Arena League, University of Oregon, Northern Montana State, and Cedaredge High School. In total, he coached over fifty years, was considered by his peers to be a defensive mastermind, and was a proven winner on the football field at every level. Rich was still coaching and employed by the Clearwater Academy International High School when he passed away.

Though he never had kids of his own, the hundreds of football players he coached filled that role. He is survived by his brother Gary (wife Patti and son Nico) and niece Kerrigan (daughter Franki). Rich's parents Rachel and Nick were mainstays in the Glenwood Springs community for over forty years. The GSHS football field is named in Nick's memory. In honor of Coach Rich's legacy, his family has established a memorial fund to continue his passion of using football to make positive impacts on the lives of so many-https://donorbox.org/coachrichstubler.