Collaros still drawing upon Argos experience
Reunited with coaches Jones, Mcadoo, quarterback looking to win starting job
SASKATOON Stephen Mcadoo and Chris Jones were there when Zach Collaros began his CFL career.
Now Collaros is hoping for a new beginning as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders — in collaboration with some familiar faces.
Jones and Mcadoo first crossed paths with Collaros in the CFL in 2012, when he was a rookie quarterback with the Toronto Argonauts after he had starred with the University of Cincinnati Bearcats.
When Collaros entered the league, Mcadoo was the Argonauts’ offensive line coach and Jones was the team’s defensive co-ordinator, assistant head coach and assistant general manager.
Collaros is now a seventh-year CFLER, and a first-year member of a Roughriders organization that includes Jones (the head coach, GM and vice-president of football operations) and Mcadoo (offensive co-ordinator).
Mcadoo looks forward to working with Collaros now that he is a seasoned pro, albeit one looking to recapture his peak form.
“He has matured a lot since 2012,” Mcadoo said.
“He was fresh out of college and there were a lot of things to learn. You can see how he has progressed and become a leader,” he continued.
“That’s one of the biggest things. We knew that he had spunk when we were in Toronto. Now his leadership has blossomed and that’s really big.”
In 2012, Jones, Mcadoo and Collaros (as a backup to Ricky Ray) shared in Toronto’s 35-22 Grey Cup win over the Calgary Stampeders.
They remained with the Argonauts through the 2013 season, after which Jones was hired as head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos and added Mcadoo as his offensive co-ordinator.
Collaros signed with the Hamilton Tiger-cats as a free agent. He guided them to the 2014 Grey Cup game and was on track for CFL most-outstanding-player honours in 2015 before suffering a seasonending knee injury against the Jones-coached Eskimos.
Collaros returned to the field in 2016, only to struggle through that season and the one that followed.
He was benched in favour of Jeremiah Masoli after losing 12 consecutive games as a starter over a two-season span. On Jan. 3, the Riders traded a second-round pick (10th overall) in the 2018 CFL draft to the Tiger-cats for Collaros.
“I believe there are things that you go through in life that make you stronger,” Mcadoo said. “With him being the competitor that he is, he takes it in stride and keeps on rolling because he has something to prove.”
Collaros has adapted quickly to the Riders’ offensive system, an adjustment he credits to the experience he gained with the Argonauts.
“Any time you’re learning a new offence, you’re learning languages,” Collaros said.
“In football, a lot of things are conceptually the same, whether it’s in the run-blocking or passing schemes or passing concepts.
“It’s all the same thing, but people call it different things. It’s just hearing the language again and what’s on with certain plays and offences. I don’t want to say it has been hard or easy, but it’s refreshing to hear it again.”
Collaros’s skill set fits the system. He is an accurate passer, with the arm strength to go deep if needed, and is mobile enough to escape from trouble.
He has exhibited all of those traits and more during the first two weeks of training camp.
“He can really see defences and read defences,” Mcadoo said. “A lot of people wouldn’t understand the conceptual mind of his, but he’s very smart. You need that to be a quarterback in any system because that guy has to be able to see things. He is the coach on the field and he has to have the vision that a coach has.”
Collaros is looking forward to working within Mcadoo’s system.
“It remains to be seen how we’re really going to attack teams on a week-to-week basis,” Collaros said.
“I will do whatever the coach asks me to do because I’m a confident guy.”
Collaros and Brandon Bridge are expected to make their 2018 pre-season debuts Friday when the Riders play host to the Calgary Stampeders.
Jones hasn’t anointed either the starter, but Collaros received more reps with the starters than Bridge during Saturday’s Green and White Day session in Saskatoon.
“I expect the guys to come out, perform and use the talent they have,” Mcadoo said of Friday’s game.
“(Collaros) has guys out there who he is competing with. I know that he’s going to bust his butt to win that starting job.”