Murray McCormick
The Leader-Post

REGINA -- Khari Jones looks forward to advancing his football career despite taking what appears to be a step back.

On Tuesday, Jones was unveiled as the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ quarterbacks coach. Jones joins the Riders’ coaching staff after spending the 2011 CFL season as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach.

“I don’t see it as a step down,’’ Jones said Friday from San Francisco, where he is spending a portion of the off-season before moving to Regina with his family.

“I loved being the offensive co-ordinator and the quarterbacks coach. For the last three years, I’ve been the quarterbacks coach. The biggest thing for me to do was get over the title part and be what I wanted to be. After talking to (Riders head coach) Corey Chamblin and seeing his vision and what Saskatchewan had to offer, the title didn’t matter. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to work with Darian (Durant) and the other quarterbacks and to be part of that offence. That’s why I’m there.’’

Durant, 29, is the cornerstone of the Riders’ offence. He’s heading into his fourth season as the Riders’ No. 1 quarterback, but struggled in 2011. Durant, who guided the Riders to Grey Cup games in 2009 and 2010, wasn’t able to lead them into the playoffs in 2011.

The Riders finished with a 5-13 record and missed out on the post-season for the first time since 2001.

Durant wasn’t the only reason for the Riders’ downfall, but he was limited to 18 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions in 16 starts.

The Riders’ 1-7 start led to the firings of head coach Greg Marshall and offensive co-ordinator Doug Berry. The Roughriders regrouped for three games under head coach Ken Miller, but the offence endured some scoring droughts while finishing out the season.

It went 286 minutes 19 seconds without an offensive touchdown and 410: 10 between touchdown passes.

“It was a tough year for Darian, and considering all of the things that were going on around him, it was understandably tough,’’ Jones said.

“With coaching changes and co-ordinator changes, it’s hard for it not to be tough at times. I thought he handled it well. Now it’s about giving him some stability and doing some of things that he does best.’’

The Riders navigated through the 2011 season without a designated quarterbacks coach. In 2010, Durant was able to lean on offensive assistant and former CFL quarterback Marcus Crandell for guidance. Crandell left during the off-season to join the Edmonton Eskimos as an offensive co-ordinator.

Jones said he didn’t have a quarterbacks coach during most of his eight CFL seasons as a player with the B.C. Lions (1997-1999), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2000-2004), Calgary Stampeders (2004), Edmonton Eskimos (2005) and Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2005). He retired in 2006 after being a training-camp cut by the Eskimos.

“One of the constants with the above-average offensive co-ordinators that I had is they played the quarterback position — not all of them, but most did,’’ said Jones, who started his professional career in 1995 with Arena Football League’s Albany Firebirds.

“You just have an instant trust when that happens because they know that you’ve been there before. You know that when they say something that they are speaking from experience.’’

Jones has that. He joined the Blue Bombers in 2000 after seeing limited action with the Lions. Jones took over from Kerwin Bell as the starter midway through the 2000 season, but it was in 2001 when Jones exploded.

Jones led the Blue Bombers to a 14-4 record while being named a CFL all-star and the league’s most outstanding player. That season ended with a 27-19 loss to the Stampeders in the 2001 Grey Cup game.

Jones continued to build on that performance in 2002. He threw for 5,353 yards and 46 touchdown passes during the regular season.

Jones noted that his style of quarterbacking is reminiscent of Durant’s. The chance to expand on that has Jones excited about the opportunity to work with Durant.

“My dad, who has coached some football, watched some film of Darian,’’ said Jones, 40.

“The first thing he said was ‘Darian was you’ and I definitely saw it. I had a different throwing motion, but Darian runs effectively and he has a big lower half that he uses to shake people off. He can also put points on the board, which is what you want from your quarterback. My goal is to make him much better than I was.’’