August 3, 2016

Pedersen: Rider fans have no reason to panic just yet

Matt Smith/CFL.ca

REGINA — They hear you.  Believe me they do.

One of the questions I’ve gotten the most recently from Rider fans regarding this 1-4 start to the 2016 CFL season is, “Do the players and coaches care as much as we do?  Do they know how much this losing is killing us?”

Since the fans aren’t always able to communicate with the coaches or players, a lot of times I’ll relay their comments and concerns on to the football club.  In this case, I didn’t need to.

The all-new-to-Saskatchewan Chris Jones coaching staff hears the fans loud and clear, both literally and figuratively.

And believe me, they get it.

“Oh they hate losing.  Just like the players do,” said Rider linebackers coach Phillip Lolley of his fellow coaches this week.  “You know we’re putting all these moving parts together and trying to build it rock solid for the future.

“We got a lotta young players out there.  A lot of them are just now playing together.  Believe me, I came from a football situation in my home state of Alabama where it didn’t matter if it was peewee, high school, junior high, or college football.  It means a lot.  I was raised on that principle.  I’m 62 years old – been around a long time – and I understand the pressure of winning.”

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Matt Smith/CFL.ca

Chris Jones and his coaching staff know the rebuild in Riderville will start paying off soon (CFL.ca)

Lolley and the coaches aren’t scoffing at the situation by the way.  It’s not a ‘Oh if you think there’s pressure here, you should see back home, yada, yada‘.  No, they get that Saskatchewan is restless with the team’s start and impatient with the rebuild.

“That’s one of the reasons we wanted to come Saskatchewan,” Lolley continued.  “As a football coach, coaching college football in the State of Alabama, that’s serious business you know.  And each and every game, one or two losses can get you in trouble there.  So I love a bunch of fans that want to win.  These fans are awesome and we want to win for ’em.”

And the pearl of the interview came next.  It showed these guys see what everyone sees.

“It’s taking a little longer to reach it than we were hoping,” the legendary Auburn coach admitted.  “We could very easily have two or three wins but we don’t.  We’ve gotta bounce back from a tough loss, and represent our football organization the way it’s supposed to be represented.”

Siiiiiigh.  What a breath of fresh air.

These guys aren’t going to pump sunshine up your skirt.  They’re going to give you the goods, whether you like them or not.  Fortunately, in the early going of this season, everyone’s been on on the same page.  From the stands, to the sidelines, and onto the field.

These growing pains are unfortunately necessary.  Chris Jones could’ve signed a helter-skelter bunch of 30-something free agents at every position to put a bandaid on the situation and try to “win now”, but he wants to do it right.  Identify the best young talent, groom them, bring them together, win, and repeat the cycle.  If that means taking a few lumps now (including a 41-3 loss in Montreal last week), well then so be it.

Mitchell-Gale-2016

Mitchell Gale will try to turn things around for the Riders until Darian Durant is ready to return (CFL.ca)

The plan is to come out smiling at the other end, no matter how long it takes.  Some pundits have given the Riders nine games to come together but I thought that estimation was too long.  Six games maximum was what I figured it should take and it sounds like Lolley feels the same way.

The plan then is to give the best fans in the CFL the best team, and on a sustained basis for years and years on end.  That was the goal of Rider President Craig Reynolds when he went out and hired the Jones crew.

As for the Rider Nation itself, they’ve lived up to their reputation with Coach Lolley and the coaching staff in their first season in the 306.

“Oh absolutely,” Lolley smiled.  “I knew that the first time I came into this stadium to play when we were with Edmonton.  I’m thinking ‘This place is different‘.  That was 2014 and it wasn’t like the year before when you’d won a championship but you could feel the electricity in the crowd and what it meant to them.  I’ve been around football a long time, and I definitely felt the energy in this place.”

Next up for the Roughriders is a date with the Stampeders in Calgary Thursday night.  It’s going to be a huge test and the Stampeders are favoured by two touchdowns.  Lolley and this Rider staff know the Stamps well, having beaten them in last year’s West Division Final.

“Well you always have to change things up,” Lolley said of the defensive game plan against Calgary.  “You’ve got to change it in relation to what they’re doing.  We’ve faced Bo Levi Mitchell many times and he’s a very, very good quarterback.  You look at all their weapons: their tailbacks have touched the ball over 100 times, #16 McDaniel the slotback is gonna work 3-strong, 3-weak.  He’s a winner, and a complete receiver.  We know we’ll need to have some folks close to him.

“Parker #86 is having another great year.  #81 Grant has gotten the ball 32 times.  We’re aware of all of them.  They’ve got great people so this young bunch we got has their hands full.”

Rider games in Calgary are always fun.  Particularly in the summer.

Come Thursday night, we’ll find out just how much fun this one is.