BRACE FOR A DRAMATIC SEASON
A second successive farewell season for the Saskatchewan Roughriders is about to begin.
Midway through the 2015 CFL campaign, Roughriders president-CEO Craig Reynolds made the decision to bid adieu to head coach Corey Chamblin and general manager/vice-president of football operations Brendan Taman. The Green and White was a stellar 0-9 at the time.
Shortly after the Roughriders put the wraps on a 3-15 season, Reynolds formally began a reconstruction project that ultimately resulted in the hiring of Chris Jones as the head coach, general manager and vice-president of football operations — a transaction that was made possible by the Roughriders’ vast financial resources.
The appointment was announced only eight days after Jones had coached the Edmonton Eskimos to a 26-20 Grey Cup victory over the Ottawa Redblacks.
For good measure, Jones hired John Murphy away from the Calgary Stampeders, giving him the title of assistant vice-president of football operations and player personnel.
With the hellos, there were several goodbyes. On one day in December, the Roughriders announced the releases of 19 players — an exodus that had to be a record, training camp and pre-season excluded.
In January, the Roughriders’ new regime severed ties with slotback Weston Dressler and defensive end John Chick, both of whom were released for financial reasons.
By the time training camp began, returnees were in the minority. The camp roster included more than 60 newcomers. Lest we forget, there has also been a complete makeover of the coaching staff.
This is also the first CFL season since 1977 in which Ivan Gutfriend will not be the Roughriders’ athletic therapist. Gutfriend, 69, stepped down after the 2015 season and was replaced by Schad Richea. The rich get Richea ... So here we are at June 30 and so many changes are in the rearview mirror. The Roughriders are poised to face the Toronto Argonauts in a most unconventional Week 2 regular-season opener for the Green and White.
Even more unusual is the fact that the Roughriders are kicking off a farewell season on a site they have occupied on a continuous basis since 1936, when their home was known as Park de Young.
Next year, the Roughriders will move to a snazzy new Mosaic Stadium, and one can only imagine what that will be like.
The same applies to the events of Oct. 29, when the B.C. Lions are to pay a visit for the final regular-season game on Taylor Field.
If Jones enjoys his typical level of success, he will take some of the steam out of the party.
Rare is the year in which Jones has not coached in a home playoff game since he first joined a CFL staff in 2002. He has won, and won big, at every stop. Why should that stop here?
If Jones lives up to his reputation, the Oct. 29 game will not be the Roughriders’ last at Piffles Taylor’s playground. A home playoff game, in which Jones specializes, would create a strange sensation after the elaborate farewell festivities, but would anyone with allegiances to the Roughriders lament such a scenario?
It would hardly be a surprise, even though the Roughriders are coming off a miserable season.
Jones’s background has already been cited. Murphy is an established winner as well.
With one-year contracts becoming increasingly prevalent, free agency can enable teams to restock in short order. This need not be a protracted, painful process, considering the degree of player movement and the people who are in charge of the Roughriders’ football operations.
Plus, Jones has done it before. In 2014, he inherited a fourwin edition of the Eskimos and promptly delivered a 12-6 season — and a home playoff game. One year later, Edmonton went 14-4 en route to celebrating a Grey Cup championship.
Jones is being paid a rumoured $500,000 per annum to replicate that success in Saskatchewan. If he can mimic the Edmonton timetable, he will field a formidable team from the outset, with the big prize being delivered in Year 2 — which would be Year 1 in a new stadium.
Of course, this is all largely dependent on the Roughriders avoiding a repeat of a different sort.
In last year’s season opener, Darian Durant was razor-sharp before suffering a ruptured left Achilles tendon shortly before halftime. July had not yet arrived and the Roughriders’ season was effectively over.
It was a shocking circumstance, considering that Durant — a Grey Cup-winning quarterback in 2013 — had missed the final nine games of the 2014 season (including a playoff loss to the Jonescoached Eskimos) after suffering a torn tendon in his right elbow.
So, in this much-anticipated farewell season, the Roughriders are hoping to put more than a stadium in the past. If Durant’s injuries are behind him, there could very well be a CFL game at Mosaic Stadium beyond Oct. 29.
The Roughriders should save up some extra balloons and fireworks, just in case.