We don’t hear from him often these days, but Richie Hall still has a fire in his belly.
In a pro football world full of big egos constantly jostling to move up the ladder — often by nepotism in the NFL’s case — Hall is the exception. Just about anyone who has known Richie in his nearly 40 years of living and working in Canada will tell you that he isn’t caught up in the noise and always stays true to himself.
The architect of arguably the greatest CFL defence of the 21st century isn’t in front of the cameras as much as he used to be and he’s okay with that. After running the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ defence for eight seasons, including two Grey Cup championships and four straight appearances in the big game, Richie took a step back in 2024 to open the door for budding young coaching star Jordan Younger to take over.
“I don’t have to be the voice in the room,” Hall said. “I get a chance to sit back and just hear what they have to say and don’t have to be the leader in pursuit. I get to be a supporting cast. It’s something that I really enjoyed last year.”
No longer the defensive coordinator and instead now a “defensive coach,” Richie has satisfied his own ego enough through prior accomplishments. Being around the sport that he loves so much is what it’s all about, not the title or even the financial compensation.
Valuing happiness over titles or money is hardly anything new for Richie. Arguably the greatest Saskatchewan Roughrider not enshrined in the Plaza of Honour, likely due to his continuous active status, Hall once turned down a much more lucrative offer to leave Regina after the 2005 season and join former Roughrider backup quarterback Jeff Tedford’s staff at the University of California.
Hobbling around on crutches from a recent knee replacement operation but with his trademark grin still intact, Richie couldn’t recall all of the financial particulars of that offer at the recent CFL Combine in Regina. He did recall what motivated him to turn it down and stay in the Canadian Football League.
“One of the things that turned me off of going down south is I didn’t want to recruit because I had a lot of friends that recruit and they were saying their season was over on a Friday afternoon and Sunday morning, they were out recruiting,” Hall said. “That’s not what I wanted.”
One of the competitive advantages the CFL has held over its American counterparts in the NFL and NCAA is the more manageable work schedule, particularly during the offseason. Hall isn’t so sure all those murderous schedules that NFL coaches brag out all the time are even all that productive.
“The thing that you always have to think about is quality over quantity. One of the things that Coach O’Shea always talks about is efficiency. So, if you’re efficient with your time, and you utilize your time and you maximize your time, then you don’t have to worry about those long hours,” he said.
“It’s tough to change that system, that perception and stuff. But I think you can be a lot more efficient with things now just because of modern technology. I always think that when you talk about hours of work, that’s really overrated because even at work, in an eight-hour day at a normal job, are you working those eight hours?”
“We have coach’s hours. I’m a morning person, so I’m there early and coaches have, I would say, during the season, 12-hour workdays. It’s about, what do you do within those hours?”
At age 64, Richie and his wife still live in Regina, though his duties with the Blue Bombers keep him away during football season. He has taken on a more low-key role but insists he has not yet closed the door on being a head coach again in the Canadian Football League.
“When you look at the cycle of coaches and stuff like that, I’m an old guy and head coaching and coordinating is kind of for the up-and-coming people,” Hall said. “Different ideas and different relationships with the players. They’re the ‘now’ guys. I’m just one of those, I wouldn’t say the old men, but I got a chance to experience it and just to share the knowledge that I have.”
“I’m happy with my role. I’m happy with the opportunity that I have now. So that’s what I’m really focusing on.”
Richie was head coach once before — a so-so two-year stint with Edmonton in the middle of his Regina residency — and learned from that experience too. Not just how to be a head coach, but also a healthy reminder that power and prestige have never been what drove the bus for him, in football or otherwise.
For now, he’s taking it all year by year. Though he is closing in on an age where many football coaches and working people are thinking about retirement, it doesn’t sound like that will be in the cards for him just yet, although his recent knee issues give him a stark reminder that even his coaching career has reached the back nine.
“I’m just thankful they give me the opportunity to do something I enjoy doing. Hopefully, they’re happy with the feedback they get from me. I like to think I still have something to contribute. I don’t think the game is passing me by, and I enjoy what we’re doing,” Richie said. “We’ve had a lot of success (with Winnipeg) over the last number of years, and I’m just kind of taking it year by year. Your health takes a lot of things. Your mind takes a lot of things, and both of those are in a positive outlook for me, so I would like to just keep going.”
That’s a scary thought for the other four teams in the West Division who haven’t had a sniff of a Grey Cup appearance in half a decade with Hall in the opposing booth.
The post ‘It’s what makes you happy’: Richie Hall not concerned with titles after stepping back from Bombers’ DC job appeared first on 3DownNation.
