Corey Mace endeared himself to Rider Nation with his first words as Roughriders head coach.
“You understand it being here, you understand it as a visitor coming here and you understand it when you get to know people from the province of Saskatchewan what this logo and what this team means to this community,” Mace said.
“I take pride in that as much as I know the community takes pride in this team. I will never lose sight of that, I promise you. I’ll do everything I can to provide that sentiment to the gentlemen that are going to don the jerseys on behalf of your team.”
Mace stated emphatically: “This is Saskatchewan’s team.” Everybody rides for that he said while touching the Roughriders logo on a green helmet. The first-time bench boss understands the championship expectations as the 37-year-old becomes the second-youngest head coach in franchise history, Corey Chamblin was 34 when he was hired in December 2011. Chamblin led the Riders to the last of four Grey Cups the team has won, which came in 2013 at home in Regina.
“I’m very black and white, each year there is only one good team, that’s how I look at it. You either win the last game or you don’t. Whether you were in [the Grey Cup] and you lost or you didn’t even get to the playoffs, it’s the same — you didn’t win,” Mace, who has won three Grey Cups, two as a coach and one as a player, said.
“I certainly do believe that I am the guy and I’m not going to do it by myself, if you think so you got it backwards. It’s a full team effort. We will get it done. No one is going to feel any more pressure than what we feel inside this building.”
There’s a pending free agent list that general manager Jeremy O’Day and Mace will have to make decisions on. His first priority is to get on the phone with the players and create genuine, caring relationships. He’s already FaceTimed with quarterback Trevor Harris and traded texts with national receiver Kian Schaffer-Baker, two key pieces on offence for the green and white.
“People around the league within the football community understand there is a lot of talent on this roster. Opportunities like this don’t come up to be able to take over a team that I think has a pretty solid foundation,” Mace said.
“I want our team to match what it is to be a Roughrider fan. You want to stay here for these brutal winters? Well fellas the most important games are played in weather like that. We’re going to be a blue-collar, hard-working football team, fast, physical, smart — certainly a product that I would love for the fan base to be extremely proud of.”
It’s time for Mace and this new regime leading the Riders to match words with actions and earn respect with wins on the field from the biggest fanbase in the Canadian Football League. That starts now.
