Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
The Saskatchewan Roughriders will have continuity in the football operations department for the next few years.
On Tuesday, days after the CFL club clinched first place in the West Division with their 12th win of the season, the Green and White announced two-year contract extensions for general manager Jeremy O’Day and head coach Corey Mace, which will see both remain in Saskatchewan through the 2028 season.
“Obviously the leadership they’ve shown and the culture change that’s happened here, and the success that they’ve seen, I think stability and continuity in pro sports is really, really important,” said Roughriders president Craig Reynolds. “I know they’ve had tremendous success so far and just excited we were able to get this done.”
O’Day is currently in his 27th season with the Roughriders after first joining the club as an offensive lineman in 1999. In 2011, he joined the football operations staff and in 2019, he was promoted to general manager.
“Very honoured and privileged to continue to represent the Roughriders,” said O’Day. “Obviously I’ve been here for quite some time and my whole family is raised here, and it’s pretty special for me to be able to receive the extension.”
One of O’Day’s biggest moves since being named general manager was the hiring of Mace, following a disappointing 2023 season which saw the Riders miss the playoffs for a second straight year.
And in his first season as head coach, Mace helped turn the Roughriders back into a contender as he was named the West Division’s coach of the year, guiding the Riders to a 9-8-1 record before losing in the West final.
This year, the 39-year-old, who has gotten his team off to a 12-4 start, has built on what he established last year and wants to continue to do so for years to come.
“It’s awesome for my family and I to be able to stay here in Regina and represent this team,” said Mace. “And it was such an easy, obviously, decision, right? We love it here. We love the community and Rider Nation has been really good to us.
“When you sit back there and you look at how fortunate that we are as a family and myself personally, to be able to come to work and represent this organization and this fan base, the historic meaning of what that ‘S’ means to this league and obviously this province, it’s dream-come-true kind of stuff. I don’t take it lightly at all and just super thankful to be here.”
With first place clinched, the Roughriders will visit the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday in Week 20 of the season before hosting the B.C. Lions on Oct. 25 in the regular-season finale. Saskatchewan will then host the West final on Nov. 8 for the first time since 2019.
