6 minute read
Ray Jauch
MENDOTA
SUBMITTED PHOTO
By Brandon LaChance
Accomplishments
• After graduating from
Mendota, he played college football at Iowa, where he was a RB and member of Iowa’s 1958 national championship team; Led the nation in yards per carry in 1958 season • Drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 1960 AFL Draft, went to Winnipeg to launch his pro career in the CFL, career came to an abrupt halt after an injury in the 49th Grey Cup • Coached in the Canadian
Football League, the United
States Football League, and the Arena Football League as well as high school and college • In the CFL, he won three CFL
Grey Cups, named two-time
CFL Coach of the Year and is the sixth winningest coach in
CFL history
Football was not Ray Jauch’s first love when it came to sports.
Actually, competing with baseball and basketball, the pigskin may have been the third option for the 1956 Mendota graduate.
When offered a scholarship to play football with the University of Iowa, the ranks changed.
“I played everything. I kind of liked baseball and basketball better than football,” Jauch said. “When I went out to Iowa, things worked out pretty well for me. I was on scholarship to play football, so I didn’t play the others. I went out for freshman basketball, but I didn’t make the team. “I had a chance to go to Kansas to play basketball. The coach out there wrote me a letter and asked me to walk on. If I would have done that, I would have played with Wilt Chamberlain on the freshman team.” WHERE are theyIowa blossomed the running back’s love and skill for the game as he helped the Hawkeyes win the 1958 National Championship while leading the nation in NOW yards per carry.
When it was time to graduate in 1960, the Buffalo Bills of the newly founded AFL (created to compete with the NFL) drafted Jauch in the inaugural draft.
Instead of playing for a new league, Jauch wanted a solid foundation with longevity.
“I was drafted by Buffalo and I guess I could have gone, but people don’t remember the few years before when the AFL was the new league to compete with the NFL. It ended up going under. Here I had a chance to go to Canada and play in a See Jauch Page 28
FROM PAGE 27 league that had been around for 80 years. It wasn’t going to fold. I had to decide if I wanted to take a chance on the new AFL.
“I didn’t feel there was much choice there. I went up to Canada to play and I’m glad I did. It gave me the background I needed to go on to coaching. It was a great experience for me. It’s a great country. The people were wonderful.”
Jauch was with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL and helped them reach the 49th Grey Cup in 1960. During the Cup, Jauch suffered a career-ending torn Achilles and didn’t play again.
Hold the sorrow, Jauch furthered his NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame credentials by coaching in the CFL (1970-82), the United States Football League, Arena Football League, high schools and the college ranks.
“I thought it was an honor to even be thought of for the Hall of Fame,” Jauch said. “I know some of the guys who went in the last time and I know some of the guys who are in this Hall of Fame class very well. It’s an honor to be inducted with them.”
Jauch coached the Edminton Eskimos (1970-76) and led the team to three Grey Cup appearances and one Grey Cup win in 1975. He won the Coach of the Year in 1970 and again in 1980 when he was coaching the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
His 127 wins makes him the sixth winningest coach in CFL history.
Locally, Jauch is known as a founding father of the Mendota Quarterback Club.
“It came up in a conversation with Phil Bodine (former MHS football and baseball coach) and I,” Jauch said. “Phil had seen a club started in the suburbs of Chicago and we decided, ‘We can do the same thing here in Mendota.’ The kids in town needed something to generate some finances so we could get them the best equipment.
“Football has gotten a bad name and parents don’t want their kids playing because of injuries and concussions. We wanted to supply Mendota players with the best equipment and not offer faulty equipment. We raised money so they could have the protection they needed. It would also help the parents have confidence their kid wasn’t going to get hurt.”
The Mendota native had moved across the country for quite some time including spending the last 20 years in North Carolina.
Traffic, rapid expansion and how long it took him to get a loaf of bread, made Jauch decide to move back to Mendota in July 2021.
The chances of him traveling are still high as his son Jeff is in Wisconsin, John and Jim are in North Carolina and Joey lives in Virginia.
“I’ve lived an interesting life. I don’t regret it,” Jauch said. “There are some parts I wish I had to do over again, but you don’t get a second chance in life. It comes by once and that’s it. If you don’t do it right, it’s not going to get right the second because there isn’t going to be a second time.”
Ray Jauch
YOUHAVEMADEUSPROUD! Congratsto MendotaAlumni RayJauch
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MendotaHighSchooland MendotaQuarterbackClub
Hall alumnus Shawn Jeppson (right) shares a story with the crowd and host Lanny Slevin during the 2019 NewsTribune’s Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
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