REGINA — A new city, new team, new coaching staff, new systems, new everything.

Saskatchewan Roughriders’ head coach Corey Mace had a lot to deal with when he arrived in Regina last off-season, and in many cases, that could be a recipe for a slow start as things round into shape.

Instead, the exact opposite happened — and that was one of the reasons Riders’ general manager Jeremy O’Day had nothing but praise for his first-year bench boss during his post-season breakdown.

The Green and White proceeded to win their first four games and five of their first six, a start that would prove crucial when injuries and adversity started to pile up mid-season. In the end, a 9-8-1 record would get them into the postseason, where the Riders would reach the West Final before seeing their season come to an end.

“Just like most years, you have your ups and downs,” O’Day said. “To be honest, I was surprised that we started so fast. When you have a new staff, new schemes, new coaches, it’s hard in a short training camp to get to a point where you’re going to go out and win football games early.

“I thought that they really came together as a group, as a team,” he continued. “They were closer than many teams that I’ve seen in the past, they really had each other’s back, cared about each other. A lot of that had to do with our head coach and his staff — their messaging. Those guys see the players every single day, have to be a voice in their rooms every single day. I thought they did a tremendous job.”

As one would expect, there was a sense of the unknown when Mace first arrived. Would the team take to his style and play for a coach with no experience on the Riders’ sideline? And how long would it take to develop a team identity that could win games? Turns out, the answer was not very long, at all.

“Really proud of that, really proud,” O’Day said. “Corey’s everything that we hoped he would be. The message, the love for his players, the love the players have for him is really genuine. The players care about him. He cares about them, which is great. They kept fighting.”

That led to Saskatchewan finding themselves in the hunt in every contest, even though their mid-season seven-game winless skid. The Roughriders lost all but one game in that span by less than one touchdown. 

“I felt that it was different than the years before from the fact of how close we were in those games,” O’Day said. “A play here and there, and I think they would have turned out differently, which in the end came out to be big games. When you’re going through the early games, you know that they all count at the end.

“So if we had a game or two that would have went differently, we would have been in a different spot in the playoffs. But we were close. Happy that we got the home playoff game. We feel like the more home playoff games, the more chances you have to be successful and win Grey Cups.”

O’Day added that the foundation Mace was able to build in his first year could lead to big things in the future, with the process starting this off-season and building toward the 2025 campaign.

“I think it was a really good start for Corey and his staff,” O’Day said. “I’m really super excited to spend the full offseason with those guys and start this process of next year. It’s not something you can just throw out a culture word and it just happens. You have to live it every day.

“When Corey came into our organization, we echoed that thought through everyone, not just our players, not just our coaches, but to our staff. About how we want to be together and work together and stay positive and work through the tough times. I think he’s done a great job of that. For some reason, everyone likes him, so that’s a good thing.”

Of course, coaching a CFL team isn’t a one-man job, and O’Day also gave credit fo offensive co-ordinator Marc Mueller for his work with the team under Mace’s direction.

“It’s a pleasure to be around Corey and his staff. I can’t speak enough about the staff and the job that they did,” O’Day said. “If you look at the job Marc did on offence in particular, he had a revolving door there with the injuries he had on offence. We were hit hard on the offensive line, which seems like it’s been happening for the last number of years, but it also happened at receiver and quarterback and running back.

“So for a first-year coordinator to have to go through that and move guys in and out of the lineup and also get those guys prepared to win football games, it was impressive with what he was able to do.”

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