There was a BOOM in the midst of a Zoom.
As members of the newly assembled Saskatchewan Roughriders coaching staff took part in a virtual meeting on Monday morning, Director of Communications Arielle Zerr emailed a media release in which the hirings were officially announced.
“All of a sudden, all of our phones were blowing up,” Head Coach Corey Mace said with a laugh. “I said, ‘Oh! It must have been announced.’
“It was really cool to have everybody together — via Zoom, anyway — for the inaugural staff meeting.”
Everybody includes Marc Mueller (Offensive Co-ordinator) and Kent Maugeri (Special Teams Co-ordinator), both of whom were named to their positions on Dec. 6. Mace had been introduced as the Head Coach and Defensive Co-ordinator on Nov. 30.
On Monday, the remainder of the staff was unveiled to the general public.
Maugeri and Anthony Vitale are the lone returnees from last year’s staff. Vitale, who coached the offensive line in 2023, is now responsible for the running backs.
Vitale will work alongside Edwin Harrison (Offensive Line Coach), Marquay McDaniel (Receivers Coach), Joshua Bell (Pass Game Co-ordinator, Defensive Backs Coach), Phillip Daniels (Defensive Line Coach), J.C. Sherritt (Run Game Co-ordinator, Linebackers Coach), Jordan Linnen (Defensive Assistant) and Jeff Higgins (Special Teams Assistant).
“I’m familiar with many of them because I either coached with them before and/or I played with them or against them,” Mace said, “and I know the mental makeup.
“The Number 1 thing for me is good people. The staff is filled with that across the board.
“There’s a lot of winning culture within this staff.”
The template is set by Mace, who has won a Grey Cup as a player (with the 2014 Calgary Stampeders), Defensive Line Coach (2018 Stampeders) and Defensive Co-ordinator (2022 Toronto Argonauts).
“All of these coaches have been around the game for an extremely long time,” noted Mace, who seamlessly transitioned from playing to coaching with the Stampeders after the 2015 CFL season. “Some of them have been coaching even longer than I have.
“Everybody’s knowledge of the game is certainly what excites me on top of all of them being a good person.”
Many of them are well-acquainted with the football climate in Saskatchewan, even if they happen to be a newcomer to the organization.
“As I’m on the Zoom and looking at all the coaching staff together, I made it quite clear for the ones who weren’t understanding of what it’s like to be here,” Mace said.
“A lot of us have come here to play as an opponent. The lure of what we have here at this facility and what we have in the community with the fan base who really cares, that’s really important to the coaches and their families, because we sacrifice a lot of time, as well as the players.
“When you put in the work, you want to make that sure you’re doing it for the right reasons — and the right reason is to win.
“That’s for the people in this organization and the people in that locker room, no doubt, but also for this province. It’s unmatched in the country. Why would you not want to be a part of this?
“That was part of the lure of bringing those guys in to step up to the challenge of bringing this province what everybody wants.”
For Mace, another exciting part of the process involved assembling a coaching staff for the first time.
“It’s an honour to be in a position to suss that out,” said Mace, who was part of Dave Dickenson’s first staff as the Stampeders’ field boss.
“Being on someone else’s initial coaching staff, it meant something to me as a position coach and I certainly hope that means something to these guys.
“If you look through the staff, I’m familiar with many of them. With some of them, I’ve only had a short amount of time to work with them, but they’ve been around people who I trust and they’re spoken of in very high regard.
“When you look at it in totality, I’m extremely pleased with the coaches we were able to put together for the staff.”
