The European League of Football (ELF) is ramping up towards their 2021 season and have been on a hiring spree in recent weeks. JC Abbott of 3DownNation reports that former Ottawa Rough Riders head coach Ron Smeltzer has joined the Barcelona Dragons of the EFL to serve as their offensive line coach.
Ron Smeltzer becomes third former #CFL head coach to join ELF’s Barcelona Dragons https://t.co/lpMjKKUMMZ#Spain | #ELF | #RNation | #Ottawa pic.twitter.com/0qIRjztG48
— JC Abbott (@JC_AbbottCFL) April 10, 2021
With the addition of Smeltzer, the Dragons are now home to three former CFL coaches. Smeltzer is joined by head coach Adam Rita and quarterbacks coach ‘Throwin Samoan’ Joe Paopao.
Last month the European League of Football made an agreement with the NFL for the former NFL Europe trademarks. This resulted in Barcelona being re-branded from the Gladiators to the Dragons. The ELF is comprised of eight teams, the Dragons are joined by the Wroclaw Panthers of Poland, Berlin Thunder, Cologne Centurions, Frankfurt Galaxy, Leipzig Kings, Stuttgart Scorpions and Hamburg Sea Devils.
Smeltzer was named head coach of the Ottawa Rough Riders on February 10, 1992. His hiring came after Mike Riley, Tom Higgins, Dennis Meyer, and Joe Paopao all declined the position. He was the Rough Riders seventh coach in seven years. In his first season, Smeltzer led the team to a 9-9 record. It was the first time the Rough Riders didn’t have a losing record in ten years. Following general manager Dan Rambo’s departure, Smeltzer was given the additional role of director of football operations.
In 1994 Smeltzer joined Ron Meyer, who he had worked under at UNLV, as offensive coordinator of the Las Vegas Posse. The club folded after one year and Smeltzer chose to remain in Las Vegas rather than uproot his family again. He was the lead assistant at Cimarron-Memorial High School from 1995 to 2000 and helped lead the team to state championships in 1998 and 1999.
Smetlzer announced he was retiring from coaching in 2007, but it seems he couldn’t get it all out of his system. The European League of Football is set to kickoff this June, and looking to capitalize on the former NFL Europe identities.
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