New Roughriders’ offensive coordinator Marc Mueller is building Saskatchewan’s very own space program and it all revolves around the man strapped in the cockpit: veteran quarterback Trevor Harris.
“The biggest thing that I learned in Calgary is that you’ve got to win down the centre. I think that the most important guy is the guy that touches the ball every play and I think you’ve got to try to find a way to make him comfortable,” Mueller told the media during his introductory press conference on Thursday. “It takes up to 13 people, maybe 14 people to protect the quarterback, and that includes play calling and it includes scheme. The offensive line, those guys aren’t just going to be out there by themselves.”
“How we build a rocket ship, we used to say all the time, was you start with how are we going to protect the quarterback? I think that you do that every week and you do that every day.”
There will be no need to sell Rider Nation on the importance of protecting their franchise pivot following a disastrous 2023 campaign in which Harris played just five games before suffering a season-ending tibial plateau fracture. The loss of their prized free agent acquisition ultimately derailed the team’s playoff hopes and Saskatchewan lost seven straight games to end the year before their quarterback could attempt a miraculous postseason return.
What may take some convincing is that Harris should be the man commanding the Riders’ launch in 2024, as the Edinboro University product will be 38 years old by the time his 12th CFL season kicks off. Coming off a major injury and facing a $250,000 roster bonus on February 1, some have suggested the organization would be better off moving on from the player they touted as their saviour a year ago.
That hasn’t been the position of the club’s new coaching staff, however, as freshly hired head coach Corey Mace fully endorsed Harris as the starter last week. His play-caller is in agreement, as Mueller sees Harris as a counter-balance to his own lack of experience.
“We’re excited that Trevor is here and as a young coach, I think you couldn’t ask for a better situation than a guy who’s won in this league, been successful in this league and has won in multiple different offences,” he said. “I’m coming from Calgary, I’ve been there for 10 years, and I’m excited to see (because) he’s been in a whole bunch of different offences what we can take from there and build it together.”
Three years younger than the man expected to execute his offence, Mueller worked his way up from the bottom in Calgary to become one of the league’s most coveted young assistants. However, he remains fresh-faced as a coordinator, having taken on play-calling duties for the first time in 2023 and losing those responsibilities mid-way through the season after disappointing results.
Mueller believes he’s a better coach for that experience, but Dave Dickenson will not be there to provide a safety net for him in Regina. Instead, it will be Harris’ breadth of knowledge as a signal caller that ensures all the bolts are tightened properly on the space shuttle.
“I think anytime you have a guy that’s been there and stood there, it’s a benefit. There’s not many things you can talk to him about as a situation that he hasn’t been through and that’s not only a big deal for us on the field but it’s a big deal in the meeting rooms, not only for the quarterback room but the receivers as well,” Mueller acknowledged.
“There’s lots of things that we can lean on there. I talked to him a couple of days ago, so I really look forward to working alongside him and with him. We’ll all be extensions of each other.”
In 94 career games with Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, Montreal, and Saskatchewan, Harris has completed 70.6 percent of his passes for 29,884 yards, 160 touchdowns and 75 interceptions. The early returns in 2023 were par for the course; 104-of-155 passing (67.1 percent) for 1,274 yards, six touchdowns and four picks before the injury.
Projected over a full 18-game season, those numbers would have been good enough for the third-highest yardage total of his career and the second-highest in the league. The quarterback believes that he can deliver Saskatchewan a Grey Cup if those numbers carry over into 2024, a hypothesis that Mueller is eager to test with a system tailored to Harris.
“It’s not just going to be my offence, it’s going to be ours,” he said, noting that the tone would be set by Mace at the top and trickle down throughout the team. “The voice from the coordinator, play caller to the quarterback, I think we should all speak the same language and I’m excited to be a part of that.”
If the partnership of Harris and Mueller can deliver on that ideal, it will be one small step for them and one giant leap forward for the Riders.
