Rich Newbrough
Earl Richard "Rich" Newbrough was an American Canadian university football coach and former college football player. He served in various coaching roles at Wilfrid [Laurier Golden Hawks football|Waterloo Lutheran/Wilfrid Laurier University] from 1968 to 1993, including as head coach from 1984 until 1993. During his 29-year tenure, he also served as athletic director from 1984 to 1997. As head coach, Newbrough led the Golden Hawks to winning seasons in all but one year, including a national championship in 1991, the program's first. He was named the CIAU Coach of the Year in 1991. Newbrough secured two Yates Cup Ontario championships in 1987 and 1991.''''
Early life
Newbrough was born and raised in Clarksburg, West Virginia, graduating at Bridgeport High School. Earl attended Fairmont State College where he played on the football program from 1955 until 1959, winning a WVIAC championship in the process with, future WLU Golden Hawks coach, David Knight, by going a perfect 7–0 record, in 1957. Newbrough would be retroactively inducted into the program's hall of fame in 2011. Following college, he was commissioned an officer in the United States Marine Corps during which he travelled throughout Southeast Asia.Coaching career
Crooksville High School
After military service, Newbrough reconnected with Knight as a teacher and football coach at Crooksville High School from 1962 to 1963, where they won back-to-back Muskingum Valley League championships and a state championship in the latter year.Waterloo Lutheran/Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks
Assistant Coach
After a stint in sales at Colgate Palmolive, Earl joined Knight in Canada to join Waterloo Lutheran University in 1968. Fairmont State alumni graduate, Fred Nichols, was also a factor in the decision. Newbrough was the assistant coach at WLU from 1968 to 1983, being part of three Vanier Cup appearances and two Yates Cup championships under head coach Knight.Head coach
1984–1986
In Spring 1984, Knight announced their resignation from the head coaching position to become director of player personnel for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League, making Newbrough the new person in charge of the football program. As head coach, Newbrough led the Golden Hawks to winning seasons in all but one year during his tenure. In 1984, Laurier finished their season with a 2-win campaign, missing the playoffs. The following year, the Golden Hawks concluded with a 6–1 record, finishing second in the Ontario University Athletics Association. They beat the York Yeomen in the semifinals, 27–10, before bowing to the Western Mustangs in the conference championship, 19–16. 1986 concluded with Newbrough and the Hawks at a 4–3 record, good enough for third in the conference. They qualified for the playoffs, losing to Guelph Gryphons in the OUAA Semifinals, 36–15.First Yates Championship (1987)
After an early exit in the playoffs, the Golden Hawks started the 1987 season with a 23–9 home opener loss to Western. For the rest of the season, Wilfrid Laurier won their next 6 games, outscoring their opponents by an average of 40.8 points per game, as they finished 6–1. In the OUAA Semifinals, The Golden Hawks defeated the Windsor Lancers, 32-13, setting themselves with Guelph, who upset No. 1 Western with a losing record, in the OUAA Finals. A 28-15 final score granted Wilfrid Laurier their first Yates Cup since 1978 and their first under Newbrough. In Newbrough first CIAU playoff game, the Golden Hawks fell to the UBC Thunderbirds, 33–31 in the CIAU Semifinals.The following season, Wilfrid Laurier finished 6-1 and advanced through the OUAA playoffs, only to lose to Western in the OUAA Yates Cup Finals. 1989 was the second-worst season displayed in Newbrough's head coaching career at the university as the Golden Hawks finished with a losing record, unable to qualify in the playoffs. 1990 was not great either for Wilfrid Laurier as after winning the first two games of the season, they stumbled through the standings, finishing their season at 4–3 overall. In the OUAA Semifinals, Western ended their season with a 23–18 loss to the Western Mustangs in the OUAA Semifinals.
National Championship (1991)
Laurier players and coaches entered the 1991 off-season hoping to improve upon their disappointing season the year before, and were voted the No. 7 team in the country in the annual CIAU preseason poll. Wilfrid Laurier had greatly surpassed its expectation as the No. 7 ranked team in the country, winning their first four games of the season, starting with defeating Guelph at Seagram Stadium. The following three weeks saw explosion of as Laurier routed the McMaster, Windsor, which was the 40th win in Newbrough's tenure at WLU, and the Toronto. In Week 5, Wilfrid Laurier lost to Larry Haylor's Western Mustangs at J. W. Little Memorial Stadium. After a dominant victory over the York Yeomen, the Golden Hawks were blown out by their rivals, Waterloo to conclude the regular season.The OUAA playoffs saw the Golden Hawks on a streak, blowing out Waterloo, upsetting No. 1 ranked Western in the Yates Cup, and Queen's in the CIAU Semifinals, finding themselves in the 27th Vanier Cup for the fourth time in the team's history. After the win against the Mustangs, the polls awarded Wilfrid Laurier No. 1 in the CIAU rankings heading into the championship game. A few days before the national championship game, Newbrough, was named CIAU Coach of the Year, the second coach in team history to be honoured up to that point, after Knight. In the Vanier Cup, the Golden Hawks defeated the Mount Allison Mounties by a score of 25–18. With the win, Wilfrid Laurier clinched the national championship, the team's first in its history. Prior to the season, Newbrough promised to have his head shaved after a championship and lived up to it.