Riders’ GM Jeremy O’Day reflects on successful season, work begins on 2026

Jeremy O’Day says winning the Grey Cup this year with the Saskatchewan Roughriders brought the same feeling of elation as his previous two championships, even though his celebrations looked a little different.

He’s won the Grey Cup three times with the Riders. The first was in 2007 as a player, the second was in 2013 as the team’s assistant general manager and the most recent win came on Nov. 16, with O’Day serving as the main man in the Roughriders’ football operations.

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“When you win as a player, you can maybe drink a little more champagne and celebrate with your teammates a little bit more. It’s just different,” O’Day told reporters on Tuesday.

“I’m looking to congratulate all the players. I’m trying to see their families at the post-game party and try to spend as much time as possible with my family that was there.”

But while he’s not celebrating in the same way he did when he was a player, O’Day said the feeling of winning the championship doesn’t change.

“Certainly the same feeling. I wouldn’t say it’s much different. When you win, you’re elated to see guys that have fought so hard through the season. You see those guys breaking down with their parents there that you haven’t met. It’s a pretty special moment when you do that.”

O’Day said there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into winning a championship, and it starts well before the CFL season does.

“Starting all the way back in training camp, we’ve always talked about our experience in Saskatoon and how it’s important for our team to get away a little bit but for all of us to be under the same roof,” O’Day said. “Going through training camp, you always get a sense of the team you have and you don’t have a crystal ball to say ‘Hey, this is going to be a championship team at the end of the year,’ but we certainly felt confident in our team.”

Despite the lack of a crystal ball, the general manager said there was a strong sense early on that this team could content for the Grey Cup.

“A lot of players just had a feeling, even from the start,” he said. “I think there was just a sense of what was to come.”

The Riders finished the regular season with a CFL-best 12-6 record and hosted the B.C. Lions in the CFL West Final. After beating the Lions, Saskatchewan went on to win the 112th Grey Cup in Winnipeg, beating the Montreal Alouettes 25-27.

Now, O’Day is turning his attention to building the roster for 2026 as the team tries to win back-to-back Grey Cups for the first time in franchise history.

“We just won the Grey Cup a week ago, so I haven’t had any players walk in and tell me they didn’t want to be part of the team, but we haven’t gone down the road with all of those, in fairness,” O’Day said.

“We’re just starting those conversations with the agents. We are just at the end of the evaluation process on our own side of it. Now, we’re going to have those conversations with all the free agents. I suspect it will be like any other year. Obviously we had a good team, but also there will be some players we don’t get back.”

One of those pending free agents is quarterback Trevor Harris, 39, who has said he will speak with O’Day and his family about playing another season in the CFL.

“No breaking news today, but we have had discussions,” O’Day said. “Trevor got on the road a couple days ago, and we had a good discussion before he left. Right now, that’s just the gist of it. It’s an early conversation. We’d love to have Trevor back, and I think he knows that. It’s just a matter of us getting back on the phone and trying to work something out.”

After winning seasons, it’s not just players who can be on the move, but coaches as well. The Green Zone and TSN CFL insider Dave Naylor reported on Monday that the Toronto Argonauts expressed interest in bringing back Riders’ head coach Corey Mace, but Mace told them he’s not leaving the province.

Hamilton @Ticats president of football operations Orlondo Steinaur declined an invitation to interview for @TorontoArgos head coaching job. @TorontoArgos also had interest in bringing Corey Mace back as head coach-plus titles but was communicated to them he’s not leaving…

— Dave Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) November 24, 2025

“They didn’t call. No one asked for permission, so I’m not quite sure where that came from. When we did hear about it, Corey did tell us he’s not interested in going anywhere,” O’Day said. “They did not reach out to us for permission.”

As O’Day begins the process of bringing players back for next season, he said the Riders have become an organization players want to join and want to stay with.

“I used to think that you just had to have the nicest house on the block, which I am referring to the stadium,” O’Day said. “When we were in the old stadium, I used to say we were disadvantaged because we were in an old stadium. It is important, and we are very grateful for this beautiful stadium and facility that we are privileged to come to work here.”

But when it comes to attracting players, O’Day said the really important aspect is the people inside the building.

“That’s something I have learned. If you can get them both, that’s great, but it’s really about the people. You have to have people around you that you like working with, that you enjoy going to work with, but it’s not all fun and games. You have to work hard, but we’re going to enjoy each other. I think that’s the difference,” he said.

“Nothing against any of our old coaches, staff, players or anything like that. It’s hard to explain, but when it comes together and everyone enjoys being around each other, there’s a little extra that goes into it. You just want to win more for each other than yourself. Very unselfish people in the building and a lot of people who deflect credit when they probably should take the credit. It’s awesome.”