Riders keep it in-house with new offensive co-ordinator hire

The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced this week that Kelly Jeffrey will be calling the shots on the offensive side of the ball next season.

The newly appointed offensive co-ordinator was first introduced to Rider Nation in 2022 as the team's running back coach. He previously was on staff with the Edmonton Elks in 2020 and was the Toronto Argonauts special teams co-ordinator in 2016. Jeffrey also spent years coaching at the collegiate level both in Canada and the United States before joining the pro ranks.

The Roughriders finished with a 6-12 record last season and missed the playoffs.

Jeffery said he isn't one to shy away from a challenge.

"I don't look for established organizations, I don't look for [a situation] where everything is rolling," Jeffrey said. "I don't want to follow up a legend and have things easy, I see an opportunity."

In 2008, Jeffrey took over head coaching duties at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick. Prior to his appointment, the team had one winning season in the past 34 years, had three wins in its previous 48 games and had lost to to St. Mary's University by more than a hundred points in 2001.

Jeffrey turned the program around.

During his tenure he won consecutive Loney Bowls as the Atlantic University Sport conference champions in 2013 and 2014. After an undefeated 2014 regular season, he was named U Sports football coach of the year.

'I'm the guy for the job': Jeffrey

The Roughriders previous offensive co-ordinator Jason Maas was fired in November. He had held the position since 2019. 

Jeffrey admitted he may not have been the first choice for the job. He said hearing that other people rejected the position fuels his fire to lead the offense. 

"As people turned this down, I think if they're so great then the circumstances about this organization shouldn't matter," Jeffrey said. "If they're worried about the head coach or GM — their status — those things shouldn't matter if you think you're the guy for the job.

"I'm the guy for the job." 

Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson said it's common to have job openings after a tough season and for many candidates to get considered for the positions.

"I feel like we got the right guy. It took us maybe a little longer than we'd hoped," Dickenson said. "But at the end of the day we're very happy with the guy we hired and we're excited to put some good people now around him."

Who will be taking snaps under centre?

Roughriders veteran quarterback Cody Fajardo was benched for the final two games last season. In 2022 he was sacked a league-leading 61 times.

Fajardo previously told the media he's excited to test out free agency in 2023, but will always feel connected to Saskatchewan. He is currently under contract with the team.

"Our offensive co-ordinator will have a big say in what direction we go at quarterback," Dickenson said about Fajardo's future with the team. 

"I reached out to [Fajardo], I didn't want him to feel like we had forgotten about him because we hadn't. There just wasn't a lot to tell him at the time."

Jeffrey said he will bend the offence to the abilities of the team's chosen quarterback.

"If Cody were to be the guy, we would win games and we'd win a Grey Cup. We could do really well." Jeffrey, who will also act as quarterback coach, said. 

"All the names we're looking at, I think, could be successful, it just has to be the right fit."

The Roughriders offence struggled in 2022. The team averaged 18.9 points per game — second lowest in the league. 

Jeffrey said he is fired up to be taking over the offence and will focus on high efficiency passing, a strong run game and getting the ball in playmakers' hands.

"This is my dream job. I'm excited to be a part of Rider Nation and can't wait to have 2023 get here."

The Roughriders are prioritizing filling the vacant running back and receiver jobs next.