Jack Gotta joined the Stampeders as a player in 1956 and rejoined the Red and White as head coach and general manager in 1977. His impact on the franchise is still felt to this very day.
That’s because one of the Stamps players during Gotta’s coaching days in Calgary was a quarterback by the name of John Hufnagel, who himself would go on to serve in the same head coach-GM dual roles for Calgary.
Coincidentally, Hufnagel passed his former boss during the 2014 season for 11th place on the CFL’s all-time list of coaching victories.
On all the official paperwork, Gotta was referred to as “Jack.” But to anyone who knew him, it was “Jocko.”
Born in Ironwood, Mich., in 1929, Gotta played his collegiate football at Oregon State. He came to Canada after a tryout with the National Football League’s Cleveland Browns and became a two-way standout for the Stampeders. In 1957, his second year in Calgary, he was named an all-star on both sides of the ball as he led the West in receptions in 1957 with 39 catches for 652 yards and two touchdowns while adding five interceptions on defence. He also earned all-star recognition in 1958.
Gotta remained with the Stamps through the 1959 season and also played for Saskatchewan and Montreal before retiring as a player following the 1964 campaign. He immediately joined the coaching ranks, serving on the Saskatchewan staff in 1965 and joining the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1968.
He replaced the legendary Frank Clair as Ottawa’s head coach in 1970 and guided the Rough Riders to the 1973 Grey Cup.
After spending some time with the Birmingham franchise in the World Football League and winning a championship in 1975, Gotta returned to the CFL in 1977 to take the reins of the Stampeders, spurning an offer to coach the Chicago Bears in doing so.
Calgary had suffered through five straight losing seasons prior to Gotta’s arrival including a 2-12-2 mark in 1976. Within two years, the Stamps were back in the playoffs and making the first of back-to-back appearances in the West Division final.
He returned to coach the Stamps in 1982 and 1983 and, over a total of five seasons at the helm, guided Calgary to a 42-34-4 record. Gotta won the Annis Stukus Trophy as the CFL’s coach of the year on three occasions — with Ottawa in 1972 and 1973 and with Calgary in 1978.
The results on the field helped, but Gotta also endeared himself to everyone with his humour and lively personality.
Former Stamps assistant Marv Bass said of Gotta: “He’s the world’s oldest teenager.”
Whenever there was a rare moment or situation Gotta couldn’t quite wrap his head around, he would use the expression “Goofy.”
Gotta worked as a football analyst on TV before returning to the sidelines in 1985 to become Saskatchewan’s head coach for two seasons.
Upon retirement, he made Calgary his permanent home and he remained in the city until his death in 2013 at the age of 83.