Riders extend Jones
Contract running through 2019 is another progressive step
REGINA — The deal is done, but the business remains unfinished.
That point was accentuated by Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach, defensive co-ordinator, general manager and vice-president of football operations Chris Jones after the CFL team announced Tuesday that he had signed a one-year contract extension, carrying through 2019.
“I’m still not over the last loss, truth be known,” Jones said, referencing the Toronto Argonauts’ 25-21 victory over the visiting Roughriders in the East Division final. “We should have won three more ball games this year.”
The Roughriders were one defensive stop away from playing one more ball game.
Had they repelled Toronto on a third-and-five gamble late in the East final, a Grey Cup berth would have mate- rialized in Year 2 of the Jones regime. No such luck.
“We left a little something for the imagination at the end,” Jones said.
The offer of a contract extension would have been unimaginable after the undeniable progress the Roughriders made under Jones in 2017.
They doubled the regular-season victory total, to 10, and posted a playoff victory — and nearly another one — for the first time since the 2013 Grey Cup game.
Amid the giddiness that resulted from that landmark home-field championshipgame victory, the Roughriders signed head coach Corey Chamblin and general manager/vice-president of football operations Brendan Taman to contract extensions that secured their services until 2017.
Chamblin and Taman were cashiered by president-CEO Craig Reynolds after an 0-9 start to the 2015 season. Shortly after the team posted a 3-15 record, Reynolds wooed Jones away from the Edmonton Eskimos.
Jones had just finished coaching Edmonton to a Grey Cup win, but the promise of an expanded role and a fattened paycheque led to an abrupt changing of allegiances.
It took a while for the people of Saskatchewan to warm up to Jones.
Barely a month into his tenure with the Roughriders, he dumped fan favourites Weston Dressler and John Chick, citing financial considerations.
The 2016 Roughriders proceeded to lose 10 of their first 11 games while being assessed league-issued fines for roster and ratio violations. There were also forehead-slapping errors in judgment, such as Jones’ needless, inflammatory signing of controversial defensive lineman Khalif Mitchell.
The fiercest firestorm, however, was ignited this past January when Jones dealt star quarterback Darian Durant to the Montreal Alouettes. Earlier, Jones had labelled Durant as “moderately successful.”
The Roughriders could not afford to fit that description in 2017. They needed to be measurably better and, after a 2-4 start, they most certainly took some emphatic steps forward.
Jones fielded a deep, talented and athletic team that became one of the league’s best.
Sans Durant, Saskatchewan still managed to lead the league in touchdown passes. Kevin Glenn and Brandon Bridge combined to throw 35 aerial majors — at a moderate rate of compensation that allowed Jones to spread the wealth.
After a mistake-plagued rebuilding year in 2016, Jones demonstrated beyond any debate that he was worthy of the elongated job description and the commensurate remuneration.
The next step for the Roughriders is to hit the jackpot.
“We try to win the Grey Cup every year,” Jones noted. “Quite honestly, our motto is, ‘If we don’t win the Grey Cup, it’s a failure.’
“We feel like we’re building something special here.”
Hence the contract extension — another step in the right direction.