Former Riders head coach upbeat about Durant’s future

Ken Miller expects Darian Durant to bounce back from a torn tendon in his right elbow that derailed the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 2014 season.

Miller speaks from experience because in 2009 he was the head coach who promoted Durant to become the Riders’ starting quarterback. Miller, who is to be the keynote speaker at Saturday’s Regina Thunder Sports Dinner, made the move after training camp and it paid off in the Riders reaching the 2009 and 2010 Grey Cup games.

“I think (Durant) will do very well,’’ said Miller, who was the Riders’ head coach from 2008 through 2010 and a portion of the 2011 CFL season.

“He will come back and he’ll do very well. It will give him time to reflect and everyone will see a spurt of growth from him.’’

In 2014, Durant was sidelined for nine games, including the playoffs, after injuring his right elbow in a 30-24 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sept. 7.

He has spent a portion of the off-season rehabilitating the injury in Regina and is expected to throw during the team’s mini-camp in April in Bradenton, Fla.

Durant has been Saskatchewan’s No. 1 quarterback since 2009. Miller felt it was a decision that had to be made considering the quarterback carousel that took place during the 2008 season.

“I felt it was important at the time to get away from the scenario where the favourite quarterback was the one who wasn’t playing,’’ Miller said.

“I was really steadfast in Darian being the quarterback because he certainly had the physical attributes and the intellectual acumen to do everything. All he needed was experience. I was resolved to get him that experience.’’

Durant has grown into one of the league’s top quarterbacks.

In 2013, he led the Riders to the Grey Cup game, in which Saskatchewan beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23 at Mosaic Stadium.

Miller feels there is still time for the 32-year-old Durant to develop as a quarterback despite some of his early accomplishments.

“None of us are finished products,’’ said the 73-yearold Miller. “I don’t think an athlete ever reaches a spot where they stop growing. If they reach it, they start to decline.

“I don’t think Darian is at the point where he will start to decline. He will continue to grow towards his zenith for a few more years.’’

DON HEALY/Leader-Post files Saskatchewan Roughriders QB Darian Durant talks with then-head coach Ken Miller during a Riders practice in 2011.Miller, who named Durant his quarterback in 2009, says Durant, even at 32, “will continue to grow” in the position.