THE RAY JAUCH STORY
The Founder Of Mendota QB Club
Ray Jauch (born 1938 in Mendota, Illinois) was a coach in the Canadian Football League, USFL, and the Arena Football League. A star high school athlete at Mendota, Jauch went on to play running back for the 1958 National Champion University of Iowa Hawkeyes, leading the nation in yards per carry. Despite being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 1
960 American Football League Draft, he went to Winnipeg to launch his pro career in the CFL. His career came to an abrupt halt when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the 49th Grey Cup. A year later, Jauch entered coaching and in 1964 returned to Iowa as an assistant on Jerry Burns’ staff. Two years later, it was back to Canada where Jauch accepted a position on Neill Armstrong’s Edmonton Eskimos staff. When Armstrong left in 1970 to join Bud Grant in Minnesota, Jauch was elevated to head coach. Jauch coached football in the CFL from 1970-1982. He coached the Edmonton Eskimos from 1970-76. He had a 64-43-4 record, appearing in three Grey Cups, winning in 1975 and won the Annis Stukus Trophy for coach of the year in 1970. He stepped down as head coach following the 1976 season to become director of football operations. From 1978-82 as coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Jauch had a 45-35 record and was coach of the year in 1980. After the 1982 season, Jauch returned to the U.S. as coach of the USFL’s Washington Federals. In 1985/1986, Jauch coached the Washington-Lee Generals Virginia High School league [VHSL] team in Arlington, Virginia for one season until the Arena Football league got off the ground. He was assisted by ex-U.VA RB David Hall, who played one year for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL. In 1987 Jauch was hired to coach the Chicago Bruisers of the new Arena Football League. His team, which included future NFL head coach Sean Payton, finished with a 2-4 record. Jauch served as Director of Football Operations 1988-89 Arena Football League and head coach of Saint Ambrose University (1990) before returning to the CFL as the offensive coordinator of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. In 1994, he was promoted to head coach. In his two seasons as Roughriders head coach, he had a 17-19 record. Jauch was Runner-up Coach of Year 1994. In 1996 he coached the AFL’s Minnesota Fighting Pike to a 4-10 record. His sons, Jim Jauch (currently a College Scout for the San Diego Chargers) and Joey Jauch, both played college football at the University of North Carolina and are themselves former CFL players. Ray returned to his hometown Mendota, Illinois in the early 2000’s to help coach the Mendota High School Football Program. He also founded the Mendota QB Club in 2001. Because of Ray’s efforts and vision, the Mendota QB Club has been instrumental in assisting in donations and scholarships, not only the MHS Football Program, but also the Mendota Youth Football Program.
