Ever since taking on the job as head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders nearly two years ago, family and connection have been at the forefront for Corey Mace.
Those values have been echoed by those in his community as he aims to lead the Roughriders to a Grey Cup championship in 2025.
“The people of Saskatchewan have been nothing but plush to our family,” Mace said. “Yesterday my [son] ‘Chewie’ was out there for his first hockey practice, all of the neighbours helping with this guy — I know nothing about hockey — just getting us all geared up. Everybody has just been first-class here; it feels like an extended family.”
Locking up first place in the West Division over the weekend with a 27-19 victory over the Toronto Argonauts, the Roughriders took care of a bit more business on Tuesday. They officially announced two-year contract extensions for both Mace and Jeremy O’Day, who will continue on in his role as general manager and vice-president of football operations.
“We started conversations, I think it was in late August, just around this possibility,” Roughriders president and CEO Craig Reynolds said. “Jeremy and I have a great working relationship, Jeremy and Corey have a great working relationship, so it kind of came together quite easily and quite quickly. They both wanted to be here, we wanted them both to be here.”
Mace joined a Saskatchewan squad coming off back-to-back playoff misses as head coach and defensive co-ordinator, improving the team’s record to 9-8-1 in the 2024 regular season with a trip to the West final and being named the division’s nominee for coach of the year honours.
The Vancouver product has followed that up with a dominant regular season for the first-place Roughriders, leading the team to a 12-4 record with the top statistical defence in the CFL.
“It’s awesome for my family and I to be able to stay here in Regina and represent this team,” Mace said. “It was such an easy, obviously, decision, right? We love it here, we love the community. Rider Nation has been really good to us.”
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As for O’Day, he has brought in several impact players in recent seasons, including quarterback Trevor Harris, running back A.J. Ouellette, receivers KeeSean Johnson and Dohnte Meyers, and Marcus Sayles, Tevaughn Campbell, Shane Ray and Mike Rose on defence.
In the midst of his 27th year with the franchise either as a player or executive, O’Day said the bar is being raised on a daily basis towards winning the franchise’s elusive fifth Grey Cup.
“The trajectory that we’re going is obviously what we’re trying to achieve,” O’Day said. “We are trying to achieve home playoff games and put ourselves in positions to win Grey Cups, so certainly I’m excited to continue to do that.”
Both O’Day and Mace have been locked up through the 2028 CFL season with their extensions, with the pair previously slated to head into the 2026 season on expiring deals.
According to O’Day, his 39-year-old head coach has come as advertised from the Argonauts and has quickly become one of the top coaches in the country.
“His background of being involved with the community, his success in being a good football coach and having success everywhere he went all weighed into the factor,” O’Day said. “Sometimes you buy a car and it doesn’t drive the way you thought it was going to drive. With (Mace), he’s exactly what we expected.”
Remembering his first conversations and interviews with O’Day and Reynolds, Mace said he got a good feeling about where the organization could be heading and is thrilled to be seeing it pay off.
“You kind of get vibes from people out the gate,” Mace said. “Without having a relationship before taking this job with (O’Day), from the interview process to instantly, as soon as we got here, things have clicked.”
That connection has translated to the players as well, with veteran linebacker Jameer Thurman seeing the effect of Mace’s playcalling and the culture that’s been developed over two seasons.
“That’s just a testament to the work that he’s done,” Thurman said. “He’s proven that week in and week out throughout the last two years.”
Losing back-to-back games just once so far this season, the Roughriders have not only locked up first place in the division but will also host the West final on Nov. 8, with the winner advancing to the 112th Grey Cup in Winnipeg.
The level of buy-in from the team has even caught O’Day off guard. He believes it bodes well as the team caps off the regular season and prepares for its biggest game of the season early next month.
“They have been preparing at a rate that I just haven’t seen in a while,” O’Day said. “They are very motivated to have success and they’re very unsatisfied with where we are, which is a great thing to see.”
Mace, a three-time Grey Cup champion over his playing and coaching career, added that the role of Roughriders head coach is one he has to pinch himself over with a common goal throughout the province of leading the Riders to their ultimate goal.
Those shared values shaped his decision to stick around Saskatchewan for the next three years.
“Saskatchewan and the people of this province, I think, are very family-oriented, very loyal to the things that they love,” Mace said. “We see it the same way. I think from a football standpoint, just how we’re trying to build a team, I think matches perfectly with the identity of the people of this province as well.
“A lot of things that aligned and hopefully we’re making everybody proud to this point, and continue to do it week in and week out.”
The Roughriders (12-4) hit the road for their penultimate game of the regular season on Friday night, visiting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-8) at 6 p.m.
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