CFL Hall of Famer, former Lions head coach Dave Ritchie dies at age 85

Dave Ritchie, who was the head coach of the B.C. Lions for their 1994 Grey Cup victory over the Baltimore Stallions, died Saturday. He was 85.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, another CFL team Ritchie coached, confirmed the death. The cause was not immediately divulged.

Ritchie amassed a 52-41-1 regular-season record as a head coach with Winnipeg (19992004). That left him fourth overall in club history behind Bud Grant (102), current head coach Mike O’Shea (96) and Cal Murphy (86).

But it was during Ritchie’s tenure as B.C.’s head coach that his club united Canada. The Lions dispatched Baltimore 26-23 in the 82nd Grey Cup on Lui Passaglia’s game-ending 38-yard field goal at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, capping the first championship ever in pro football to feature a U.S.Canada matchup.

“Just that alone, to me, makes our youngsters special,” Ritchie said about the contest in 2022 upon being inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. “For one week, everybody on our ball club was a Canadian.”

Neil McEvoy, the Lions’ cogeneral manager and director of football operations, said Ritchie will be missed by everyone across the CFL.

“Coach Ritchie was a champion at heart who represented the B.C. Lions with the utmost class and professionalism. Anyone who had the good fortune to work with him was better for it,” McEvoy said in a statement.

Ritchie, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, spent 11 of his 22 CFL seasons as a head coach with B.C. (1993-95), Montreal (1997-98) and Winnipeg. He won 108-of-187 career regular-season games to stand seventh all-time.

He also claimed Grey Cup rings as an assistant with Winnipeg (1990) and B.C. (2006).