Durant’s unexpected exit surprises former head coach
Ken Miller, who gave Darian Durant his first CFL start, was surprised to learn about the finish to the quarterback’s career.
The 35-year-old Durant, one of the premier players in Saskatchewan Roughriders history, unexpectedly announced his retirement Friday.
“I thought first of all, ‘What the heck is going on here?’ ” Miller, who was the Roughriders’ head coach from 2008 to 2011, said from his home in Asheville, N.C. “I really feel personally that he has a lot to contribute to the game of football yet, and I saw that last year.”
Durant spent his first 11 CFL seasons with the Roughriders before being traded to Montreal in January of 2017. The Alouettes endured a miserable season, in the midst of which Miller joined the team as an offensive consultant.
“Although (Durant’s) performance level wasn’t as high, the efficiency of the team wasn’t as high as it might have been,” Miller noted. “I still felt like he had something to contribute.”
After the Alouettes released Durant in January, he signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and was to be the team’s No. 2 quarterback, behind Matt Nichols.
“With the fact that he landed in Winnipeg and was reunited with (former Roughriders receiver) Weston Dressler and all that sort of thing, I thought that he had really established direction,” Miller said.
“Something really good must have come up as an alternative for him to say that now is the time to step away from the game. I don’t know whether he felt like he didn’t want to be int hero letha the was going to face there or just what that situation is.”
Durant received his first signifi- cant playing time in 2008, early in Miller’s first year as a CFL head coach. Although Durant began that season as the Roughriders’ thirdstring quarterback, he was soon elevated to front-line duty.
The turning point was on July 4 of that year, when the Roughriders faced the host B.C. Lions.
Marcus Crandell, the Riders’ starting quarterback, was injured early in that game. Miller then turned to Steven Jyles, who faltered. At halftime, another quarterbacking switch was made. Durant played the final two quarters and helped Saskatchewan win 26-16.
The following week, Durant sparkled in his first start, guiding Saskatchewan to a 33-28, comefrom-behind victory over the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He was then the winning quarterback in a 41-33 conquest of the visiting Alouettes.
“Darian was a young warrior,” Miller recalled. “He was full of optimism. He was completely healthy.
“It was a great example of where preparation meets opportunity, and it really started out quickly for him because he was prepared to go, so he did well.”
Durant suffered a rib injury in his third start of 2008, after which the Roughriders played “quarterback roulette,” in the words of Miller.
Leading up to the 2009 season, however, Miller made it clear that Durant was the starter. The wisdom of that move was underlined when the Roughriders finished first in the West Division for the first time since 1976.
“There were people in the organization who thought that Steven Jyles was the quarterback in waiting,” Miller said. “In evaluating the two, I thought that Darian had a greater upside.”