Ron Lancaster
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Ron Lancaster | |
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Date of birth | October 14, 1938 |
Place of birth | Fairchance, Pennsylvania |
Date of death | September 18, 2008 (aged 69) |
Position(s) | Quarterback Head coach |
College | Wittenberg |
CFL All-Star | 1970, 1975, 1976 |
Team(s) as a player | |
1960-1962 1963-1978 |
Ottawa Rough Riders Saskatchewan Roughriders |
Team(s) as a coach/administrator | |
1979-1980 1991-1997 1998-2003, 2006 |
Saskatchewan Roughriders Edmonton Eskimos Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
Canadian Football Hall of Fame |
Ronald "Ron" Lancaster (October 14, 1938 – September 18, 2008[1]) was one of the pre-eminent quarterbacks of the Canadian Football League during his playing career; later in his career, he was also coach and general manager in the same league, and a sports announcer for CBC Television. At the time of his death, he was the Senior Director of Football Operations of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He is enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame (1982), the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1985) and the Wittenberg University Athletic Hall of Honour (1985).
Contents |
[edit] Early Life
Lancaster was born in Fairchance, Pennsylvania but moved to Clairton, Pennsylvania as a young boy. His mother still resides in Clairton today.
[edit] Playing career
Lancaster was a talented quarterback by the time he graduated from Clairton High School, but due to his small 5' 5" (165 cm) stature, he was ignored by most college scouts. He had a promising record at tiny Wittenberg University, but no NFL teams showed any interest; however, a scout for the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League liked his on-field leadership, and Lancaster was drafted by Ottawa. [2]
During his rookie season with Ottawa in 1960, while he shared the quarterbacking duties with another future Hall of Famer, Russ Jackson, Ottawa won the Grey Cup. He spent two more years with Ottawa before being traded to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1963.[3]
"The Little General" played 16 seasons with Saskatchewan (1963-1978); he led the team into the playoffs for 14 consecutive seasons and to the CFL's Western Football Conference final 12 times, representing the West in the Grey Cup five times: in 1966, 1967, 1969, 1972, and 1976. However the Roughriders won the big game only once, in 1966, when they defeated the Ottawa Rough Riders 29-14.
The Roughriders won 170 games with Lancaster at quarterback before he retired as a player.[3] In his time with the Roughriders, the team had only one losing record, 4-11-1 in 1978, which was Lancaster's final season as a quarterback. In fact of his 19 seasons in the CFL, he had only one other losing record, in 1962 with the Ottawa Rough Riders at 6-7-1.
He was so dominant as a quarterback, that at the time of his death, 30 years after he retired from playing, he was still ranked in the top 3 in career stats in a number of CFL categories:
- second in touchdown passes (333, surpassed only by Damon Allen)
- third in pass completions (3,384),
- third in pass attempts (6,233)
- third in yards passing (50,535)
Lancaster was a finalist for the Schenley Award as most outstanding player in 1966, 1970 and 1976, winning in 1970 and 1976.
He was an All-Canadian in 1970, 1973, 1975 and 1976 and a Western all-star in 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1975 and 1976.[3]
In November, 2006, Lancaster was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#7) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network The Sports Network/TSN.
[edit] Coaching career
Lancaster was a player-coach in the 1977 and 1978 seasons, serving as Saskatchewan's offensive co-ordinator.
Lancaster became Saskatchewan's head coach immediately after his 1978 playing season but found "the glorious fifties and sixties were over, and he was the first Roughrider coach in sixteen years who did not have Ron Lancaster at quarterback." [4] The Green Riders finished 2-14 in consecutive seasons and Lancaster would not coach again for 11 years.
After serving as a colour commentator for The CFL on CBC for several years, he returned to the coaching ranks when he was named 12th head coach in Edmonton Eskimos history on February 4, 1991. He coached the Eskimos from 1991-1997, amassing an 83-42 regular season record and a Grey Cup win in 1993. He passed Hugh Campbell for first place on the Eskimos' list for coaching wins October 27th, 1996.
Lancaster became the 17th head coach in Hamilton Tiger-Cat history on November 26, 1997. He coached the Tiger-Cats from 1998-2003. He took the team to the Grey Cup twice (1998, 1999) winning it in 1999. On July 10, 2006 Ron Lancaster was re-hired as the teams head coach on an interim basis after the firing of coach Greg Marshall.
Lancaster’s 142 career regular-season wins, place him fifth on the CFL’s career regular season wins list.[5]
[edit] Season by season results
Season | Record | Finish | Playoffs |
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Saskatchewan Roughriders | |||
1979 | 2-14 | 5th in Western Football Conference | None |
1980 | 2-14 | 5th in Western Football Conference | None |
Edmonton Eskimos | |||
1991 | 12-6 | 1st in West Division | 0-1 |
1992 | 10-8 | 2nd in West Division | 1-1 |
1993 | 12-6 | 2nd in West Division | 3-0, Won 81st Grey Cup vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers |
1994 | 13-5 | 2nd in West Division | 0-1 |
1995 | 13-5 | 2nd in North Division | 1-1 |
1996 | 11-7 | 2nd in West Division | 2-1, Lost 84th Grey Cup vs. Toronto Argonauts |
1997 | 12-6 | 1st in West Division | 0-1 |
Hamilton Tiger-Cats | |||
1998 | 12-5-1 | 1st in East Division | 1-1, Lost 86th Grey Cup vs. Calgary Stampeders |
1999 | 11-7 | 2nd in East Division | 3-0, Won 87th Grey Cup vs. Calgary Stampeders |
2000 | 9-9-0-2 | 2nd in East Division | 0-1 |
2001 | 11-7 | 2nd in East Division | 1-1 |
2002 | 7-11-0-1 | 3rd in East Division | None |
2003 | 1-17 | 4th in East Division | None |
2006 | 4-10 | 4th in East Division | None |
[edit] Broadcasting career
CBC Television invited Lancaster to become a colour commentator on CFL broadcasts in 1980. He was part of a trio that included Don Wittman doing the play-by-play and former Argonaut head coach Leo Cahill doing colour commentary along with Lancaster. He was with the CBC from 1980-1991 and was a member of the CBC team at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea as the play-by-play broadcaster for basketball.
[edit] Illness and death
In 2004, Lancaster was diagnosed with bladder cancer, but appeared to have beaten it after treatment. In 2008, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and immediately started treatment. Lancaster was positive in his outlook, stating "Five years ago, I survived a battle with cancer, and now we have another battle on our hands. The goal is to get this taken care of and move forward just like I did five years ago. We will approach this the same way as then and I thank you all in advance for your kindness as I am on my path to recovery."[6] Lancaster died of a heart attack [7][8] 6 weeks later on September 18, 2008.
He is survived by his wife, Bev and his three children Lana, Ron, and Bob, and four grandchildren.[9]
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=249878&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_main
- ^ "Life and Times: Ron Lancaster". Retrieved on 2008-09-21.
- ^ a b c "Ron Lancaster". Front Office Team. Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Archived from the original on 2008-09-18. Retrieved on 2008-09-18.
- ^ Mullick, Rajeev. CFL Legends: Ron Lancaster. Retrieved January 17, 2006.
- ^ All-time CFL coaching wins. Retrieved October 25, 2006.
- ^ Masters, Mark (2008-08-06). "Lancaster facing another fight with cancer", National Post. Retrieved on 2008-09-18.
- ^ Maki, Allan (2008-08-19). "Lancaster cast a long shadow in the CFL as a Hall of Fame player, coach, GM and broadcaster", Globe and Mail. Retrieved on 2008-09-19.
- ^ "CFL fans remember Ron Lancaster". CBC Sports (2008-09-19). Retrieved on 2008-09-25.
- ^ "CFL icon Lancaster dies at 69", CBC Sports (2008-09-18). Retrieved on 2008-09-18.
[edit] References
- CFL Facts, Figures and Records 2007.
- Official WFC, EFC and CFL statistics 1960 to 1978.
- The Canadian Encyclopedia
Sporting positions | ||
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Preceded by Walt Posadowski |
Saskatchewan Roughriders Head Coaches 1979–1980 |
Succeeded by Joe Faragalli |
Preceded by Joe Faragalli |
Edmonton Eskimos Head Coaches 1991–1997 |
Succeeded by Kay Stephenson |
Preceded by Don Sutherin |
Hamilton Tiger-Cats Head Coaches 1998–2003 |
Succeeded by Greg Marshall |
Preceded by Greg Marshall |
Hamilton Tiger-Cats Head Coaches 2006 |
Succeeded by Charlie Taaffe |
Awards and achievements | ||
Preceded by Wally Buono Wally Buono |
Grey Cup winning Head Coach 87th Grey Cup, 1999 81st Grey Cup, 1993 |
Succeeded by Steve Buratto Dave Ritchie |
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Persondata | |
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NAME | Lancaster, Ron |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
SHORT DESCRIPTION | CFL Hall of Fame player and coach |
DATE OF BIRTH | 1938-10-14 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Fairchance, Pennsylvania |
DATE OF DEATH | 2008-09-18 |
PLACE OF DEATH |