Thaddeus Coleman jumped the gun.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ offensive tackle was asked after a recent practice what makes a good pass-rusher in the CFL. After thinking for a moment, he replied.
“He has got to be savvy,” Coleman said. “He can’t be a robot. Sometimes he has got to do his own thing.
“I’ve studied Charleston ever since I’ve been in the league and he’s not a robot at all. He’s one of the best pass-rushers in the league for a reason. He gives you every kind of move and keeps you honest.”
That’s great … but who said anything about Charleston Hughes (even though he ultimately was going to be the topic of the conversation)?
Coleman’s mind automatically went to Hughes, who is having a stellar first season with the Roughriders. Entering play Friday, the 34-year-old product of Saginaw, Mich., had a league-leading nine sacks through Saskatchewan’s first seven games.
He’ll look to build on that total Sunday, when the Roughriders face the Calgary Stampeders at Mosaic Stadium (5 p.m., CKRM, TSN).
Hughes won three sack titles in his first 10 seasons in the CFL, all of which he spent with the Stampeders. On Feb. 2, Calgary traded Hughes to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who quickly flipped him to Saskatchewan.
The 6-foot-1, 246-pounder made an immediate impact on the Roughriders’ defence, recording three sacks in the team’s regular-season opener. He has registered at least one sack in six of Saskatchewan’s seven games, fulfilling a belief he had after Calgary dealt him away.
“I felt like I was going to do this, just like I said when I got traded: ‘No matter what team I end up playing for, I’m going to lead the league in sacks and that’s my goal,’ ” Hughes said. “Now that I’m there, I’ve got to remain at the top and keep doing what I’ve got to do.”
Hughes broke into the CFL in 2008, when Chris Jones was the Stampeders’ defensive co-ordinator. Calgary cut Hughes during that training camp, but brought him back after another player got hurt.
All Hughes has done since then is take down quarterbacks 108 times. He’s now ninth on the CFL’s all-time list, two behind Tyrone Jones for eighth.
“He’s a little bit heavier now and he’s certainly not any prettier,” Jones, who’s now the Roughriders’ head coach and general manager, said with a grin when asked how Hughes has changed over the past decade. “He’s a very experienced player. He ends up right a lot of times.”
Jones is a former defensive line coach, so he has a pretty good idea of what he wants in a defensive end. That player has to interrupt things — “Not just getting sacks, but affecting the quarterback himself,” Jones said — through tenacity and effort.
It would appear that Hughes is still doing that in his 11th CFL season.
“He has got that ‘it’ factor,” Jones said. “His feet never stop and he never quits playing. He just outworks his opponents.”
“You’ve got to get to the quarterback, no matter what it takes,” Hughes added. “You’ve got to scrap and get there no matter how many people they block you with. Whether it’s two or three or if the whole line comes your way, you’ve got to find a way to win.”
Hughes credited hard work, good technique and extensive film study for his success. Like Coleman, Hughes said a good pass-rusher has to be smart — but he also has to be aware of his position on the field.
Since arriving in Saskatchewan, Hughes has been trying to pass on all of his knowledge to the Roughriders’ younger defensive ends.
“Charleston has always been savvy; that’s one thing I can pick up from him,” said backup Tobi Antigha. “He may be past his prime athletically, but he knows everything about how to pass rush.
“He’s still a great athlete, don’t get me wrong, but you can tell that when he was younger, he was really explosive and really good athletically. It comes down to understanding protections and understanding how to set up your pass rushes.
“A lot of guys are athletic, but they don’t have that component of their game and ultimately they’re not able to execute at their highest level on the field because they don’t have that savviness or awareness.”
Hughes readily admitted that his game has changed since 2008, but he has remained one of the league’s top quarterback hunters. Sack titles in 2016 and ’17 bear that out.
“I’m not the same guy I was back in the day, but back then I was learning,” he said. “It’s different. If I knew back then what I know now, I’d have been an amazing player.
“Over the years, you grow and you learn. You go back and review the years before, you find what you need to do to get better and how you can be more effective and you keep applying that year in and year out.”
That’s good news for a player like Coleman, who gets to face Hughes every day in practice after going up against him in games since Coleman came into the league in 2013.
For Coleman, the lessons he learns from a defensive player are invaluable.
“There are other guys who are good in the league, but when you play against Charleston, he gives you every kind of move possible,” Coleman said. “I have seen It all. I’m not surprised if another person gives it to me because I’ll be like, ‘OK, I’ve seen that from Charleston. Whatever.’ ”
