Robservations: Hardly a passing fancy … thank you, Karlie McGeough! … and the Riders’ Bill Belichick connection

We have this running joke about passing.

Jeremy O’Day, the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager, has long poked fun at my propensity to write/ask about quarterbacks, quarterbacks, quarterbacks and, for variety, quarterbacks.

At the not-inconsiderable risk of providing more ammunition, we bring you … quarterbacks!

The other day, O’Day was asked — not by me, shockingly enough — about the process that will ultimately produce the CFL team’s stable of signal-callers for 2024.

This much is uncomplicated: Trevor Harris will be the Roughriders’ starter under first-year Head Coach Corey Mace.

“Part of the conversations we had when we interviewed the coaches was, ‘How does it look moving forward? What are your thoughts on Trevor?’ ” O’Day told reporters earlier this week from Nashville, where the league’s winter meetings were held.

“Honestly, everyone feels good with Trevor, but the reality is that you can only play for so long and you need to have a good quarterback for a long period of time.”

Hence the need for a long-term blueprint, recognizing that Harris turns 38 on May 31.

“That is something that’s on our minds, but we hope that the succession plan doesn’t have to happen this year,” O’Day said. “You have to have that next guy in place and we’re very aware of that and we’re evaluating that.

“Do we have a guy who’s in-house? Do we see other guys that are potentially free agents who could be franchise guys? Those are the things that we’re going through now.

“We have to make sure that we’re prepared for the future so that’s something that we’re looking at.”

The beginning of the CFL’s free-agency period (Feb. 13) is in the not-too-distant future.

Closer on the horizon is a negotiating window that runs from Feb. 4 to 11. Over that week, teams can initiate and conduct negotiations with prospective free agents, although deals cannot be formally signed until Feb. 13.

Leading up to that, the Roughriders have been signing coaches who will serve on Mace’s staff. To this point, the addition of Offensive Co-ordinator Marc Mueller and the retention of Special Teams Co-ordinator Kent Maugeri have been announced.

Mueller, a member of the Calgary Stampeders’ coaching staff from 2014 to 2023, is in the process of moving back to his hometown of Regina.

At the same time, Mueller is immersing himself in the evaluations of (yay!) quarterbacks. Among those being appraised are Mason Fine and Jake Dolegala, both of whom are under contract to Saskatchewan until Feb. 13.

Fine and Dolegala participated in exit meetings following the 2023 season. That being done, O’Day focused on hiring a Head Coach, who then dove into the process of securing his assistants.

In the meantime, O’Day has been busy dealing with matters such as restructuring Harris’s contract and re-signing contributors such as linebacker C.J. Reavis, returner Mario Alford, defensive back Amari Henderson, receiver Brayden Lenius, defensive tackle Miles Brown, long snapper Jorgen Hus and quarterback (!!!) Antonio Pipkin.

As money is allocated and, in some cases, freed up, O’Day will be better equipped to target expenditures and specific incumbents as the free-agency period draws closer.

That process will inevitably include involved discussions about Fine, Dolegala and quarterbacks from other teams who may very well test the open market.

“We’re still a little bit at the evaluation phase of ‘who do we think would be the best candidate for the offence that we’re going to run?’ and ‘how does Marc feel about the guys we have in-house who are pending free agents versus other guys who may potentially become free agents?’ ” O’Day said.

“We’re going through that right now. Whether that would be one of our guys or a guy who’s a pending free agent has yet to be determined.”

Is there uncertainty? Of course.

Welcome to January in the life of a CFL General Manager.

“As always, it will get ironed out with time,” O’Day noted. “We’re going through the process, much like all the other teams.”

McGEOUGH’S NEWS

It was a bittersweet Friday at the Roughriders’ business office.

Karlie McGeough worked her final shift as the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation’s Marketing Communications Associate.

She has accepted a position with the Regina Police Service as a Communications Strategist.

We are all delighted for Karlie, yet sad at the same time.

We are all going to miss her.

Karlie approached every day, every task, with a smile — and the highest degree of competency.

She made me feel comfortable here from Day 1 (Feb. 21, 2023).

Also worth lauding: She made popcorn for the staff on Wednesday.

With all of Karlie’s admirable qualities in mind, high-level negotiations are underway that, ideally, will allow for her to remain on-board as a valued member of the Roughriders’ slow-pitch squad (formally known as John Phillips and Team).

In addition to being a superlative softball player, Karlie is willing to handle the scorekeeping.

Let’s not forget that Karlie also brings her own aluminum bat. We were especially grateful for that when, on one infamous day, John was out of town and (cue crisis) nobody brought along the equipment bag.

Karlie’s bat saved the day.

So did her vacuum-like defence in the infield.

In summation: Best of luck, Karlie, and we will see you in the spring!

(P.S. — Don’t forget the bat.)

(P.P.S. — Don’t forget the popcorn.)

THIS AND THAT

• Luke McGeough (Karlie’s brother) will be the referee at the Roughrider Foundation Winter Classic — a second annual charity hockey game that is slated for Feb. 3 at Merlis Belsher Place in Saskatoon. The game is to begin at 12:30 p.m. Brett Lauther and Chris Getzlaf will be the captains. For tickets, or for more information, visit the event’s website (www.riderville.com/winterclassic/).
• In the headline, we mentioned the Roughriders’ Bill Belichick connection. His father, Steve Belichick, was a guest coach with the Green and White at training camp in 1958.
• Bill Belichick’s godfather, Bill Edwards, was the Head Coach of the football team at Wittenberg College (now Wittenberg University) from 1955 to 1968. Ron Lancaster was a quarterback with the Edwards-coached Wittenberg Tigers from 1956 to 1959. Lancaster and Edwards both entered Wittenberg’s Hall of Honor in 1985.
• Early in Belichick’s tenure as the New England Patriots’ Head Coach, one of his quarterbacks was Michael Bishop. He was drafted by New England in 1999, one year before Belichick joined the team, and was also a member of the Patriots in 2000. Although Bishop was used sparingly, he did throw a 44-yard TD pass to Tony Simmons on Oct. 8, 2000 against the Indianapolis Colts. Bishop eventually landed in the CFL and, on Aug. 23, 2008, was traded to Saskatchewan by the Toronto Argonauts. He spent 11 games (playoffs included) with the Roughriders that season.
• In 2007, Belichick coached New England to a 16-0 regular season. However, the quest for perfection ended with a 17-14 loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. Late in that game, Giants defensive lineman Jay Alford recorded a key sack of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Alford dressed for 10 games with the 2012 Roughriders and also attended training camp with the team in 2013.

ROLL CREDITS …

• Nice people who deserve a plug: Jim Hopson, Brenda Edwards, Rick Bowness, Josh Morrissey, Nikolaj Ehlers, Cole Perfetti, everyone else on the Jets, Escalus Burlock, Brad Burlock, Brett Burlock, Randa Burdeniuk, Dave Burdeniuk, Edith Nye, Shirley Prokop, Todd Orthner, Trevor Harris, Dustin Grant, Dr. Tom Robinson, Karlie McGeough, Luke McGeough, Kevin Shaw, Erica Steadman, John Phillips, Jenna Trider, Destiny Desjardins, Kelly Peterson, Connor Bedard, Paul Berton, Ed Cassavoy, Brad Milne, Adam van Sabben and the all-star human beings at WBM Technologies.