The Calgary Stampeders are saddened to learn of the death of former head coach Lary Kuharich, who passed away on Sunday. He was 70.

Kuharich, a native of Middletown, N.Y., was hired by the Stamps as an assistant coach in 1986. In August of 1987, he was named head coach, taking over a team that was 2-6 in its first eight games. Under Kuharich, Calgary won eight of its last 10 regular-season games and qualified for the playoffs. He continued to coach the Stamps through the 1989 season and had an overall 24-22 regular-season record.

Kuharich was head coach of the BC Lions in 1990 and later coached extensively in the Arena Football League, winning a championship in 1991 as an offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Storm and another as Tampa Bay’s head coach in 1993. From 1998-2000, he served as running backs coach for the National Football League’s New Orleans Saints.

Prior to coming to Calgary in 1986, Kuharich coached at Temple, Illinois State and California at the collegiate level before serving as offensive coordinator for a pair of United States Football League franchises — the San Antonio Gunslingers and the Oakland Invaders.

Kuharich is survived by his wife of 36 years, Kathleen, his daughters Jacquelyn Lara, Theresa, Katrina Joseph and Dakota Mari and grandsons Alexander and Gunnar as well as his brother Bill.