Riders’ top brass at CFL combine with eyes on 2026 season

While the Saskatchewan Roughriders have enjoyed the spoils of 2025, the team’s focus is squarely on the upcoming season.

“That’s the reality of sport. You can’t sit there and love on it too long, because you have work to do,” said Riders head coach Corey Mace.

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“We’re hired to do a job here, and we’re all on to 2026.”

The Riders finished the 2025 CFL season with a 12-6 record – the best in the league – and went on to win the Grey Cup for just the fifth time in the team’s history.

Players and staff have been taking the Grey Cup around the province to celebrate the win. General manager Jeremy O’Day admitted it’s a occasionally challenge to remain focused on the present and future while surrounded by so many reminders of last year’s success.

“You work hard to get the trophy. Everyone works hard for it – our fan base, community, province deserve to see it and deserve to celebrate it,” O’Day said. “You’re trying to navigate where you’re focusing on the future, but also the importance of what we accomplished last year.

“The Grey Cup has been everywhere. Every time you turn your head, it’s somewhere else, or you’re at a function with it. I will say it never gets old seeing it at a function, for sure. In this role, you quickly turn the page and have to start focusing on 2026. It’s nice to hear the players are doing that as well. I think I saw Trevor (Harris) and AJ Ouellette in the gym two days after we won the Grey Cup, working out. You have to flip the page and understand it’s not like golf, where you carry over the next hole. You have to focus on the next season, so that’s what we are focusing on, but still proud of what we accomplished.”

Mace and O’Day, along with other scouts for the team, are at the CFL combine this week in Edmonton. The scouting showcase gives general managers and coaches an opportunity to see top CFL draft prospects take part in drills and interviews ahead of the league’s April draft. Mace is also up for the CFL’s coach of the year award, which is set to be awarded in Edmonton on Wednesday evening.

“In most cases, we’ve watched the player before we get to the combine. The combine is just going to be reassurance or, in some cases, a detriment to the player if they don’t test well or interview well. I think it’s a combination of both. You want to weigh heavily what you see on tape, but if the testing is not where it should be for a professional player, then I think that changes your opinion on them a little bit from the combine,” O’Day said.

A position that still needs some clarity around it is the long-snapper position, as Jorgen Hus hasn’t signed a new deal with the team.

“If Jorgen chooses not to play, we will be prepared for it,” O’Day said.

“We try not to get caught by surprise. Sometimes you’re a little late to hear the information, but there are reasons for that. We will be prepared. We will have somebody long-snapping for us this year. If it’s Jorgen, that’s great. If not, we will find the best guy available to fill that role.”

A spot Mace believes will be an open competition will be the defensive end spot opposite newly signed free agent James Vaughters.

“These guys work their tails off to bring a bunch of talented players to training camp, and that’s what you love about training camp,” Mace said.

“You go into training camp thinking you have this thing taken care of, and then somebody shows up and you’re like, ‘Well, this guy has to play for us.’ We have a laundry list of really talented defensive ends and, truthfully, it’s going to be up to them who is going to take that spot.”

O’Day said the team hasn’t reached out to any veteran CFL backup quarterbacks, indicating that the decision on who will be backing up Harris will come down to a competition between the quarterbacks they currently have under contract – Jack Coan, Tommy Stevens, Jordan McCloud and Brayden Schager.

One of the moves the team made this offseason was signing former NFL running back Darrell Henderson Jr. to a contract.

“We actually had a connection with Jermarcus Hardrick,” O’Day explained.

“I believe they are from the same hometown or went to the same school… That’s how the conversation got started. From there, it was communicating with him and seeing if we could work out a deal with him.”