Rich Stubler

Another aspect to Rich Stubler the much beloved Defensive guru from our 1986 Grey Cup year.

Reed’s coaching philosophy forced Stubler to bolt for Lions job: Eskimos GM Tillman

BY CHRIS O’LEARY, EDMONTONJOURNAL.COM JANUARY 6, 2012

Tillman said that Reed wanted to add a secondary coach to his defence

and to increase the focus in practice on fundamentals,
like tackling drills and technique work with defensive backs.

Stubler, Tillman said, didn’t want to do that.

“Rich … is more of a system guy — and a darn good one
— and he wanted to keep doing things as they were done in 2011.


I watched Kavis work with the players in his secondary at practice here in Hamilton.

He was so concerned with preparing each of them to be comfortable and confident.

Like a good teacher, he believes you can’t leave fundamentals up to chance.

He is forever the teacher. Good on him! I am glad for the success he is having.

I wondered about his departure. Thank you for the link, Ron. I guess because they worked together previously and both have a background on the defensive side, the philosophical aspect of his position became most important.

Based on some of the comments at the end of the article, they're not giving Tillman any grade A points for his efforts so far. At various times last season, I thought Stubler would have been a good choice for DC in Hamilton.

I'm anticipating who George is going to bring in to fill that role here. Something tells me that it will be an unknown assistant or position specialist to most from the NCAA or even the NFL. I'm sure, whoever it turns it turns out to be, they will be capable. The head coach said it would be quick, so we should know pretty soon.

I’m happy for Kavis Reed too, Ron. His hard work in Hamilton didn’t escape me.
He epitomizes the true meaning of a dedicated teacher as I’m sure you do as well.

If Stubler’s coaching philosophy differed from Reed’s, bolting (Stubler’s) was the right thing
to do.
With differing philosophies existing between coaches, someone definitely has to go.