Riders name coaching staff: Next Stop Free Agency!

Mace will be serving as the defensive coordinator but the Rider news release showed Mace will not be focused exclusively on defense. The hiring I was most interested in was offensive line and Mace brought in his former colleague with the Toronto Argonauts Edwin Harrison as the new coach. Harrison was the Argos running back coach and run game coordinator for the last two years and is a two-time Grey Cup Champion with Calgary as a player in 2014 and Argonauts as a coach in 2022. Marquay McDaniel is the receiver’s coach who after his playing time with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Calgary Stampeders, winning a Grey Cup in 2014.

Daniels started coaching with the McMaster Marauders before going to Calgary as the receiver’s coach. Daniels was brought in to help the receivers with working on their blocking so maybe this season when the Riders try a bubble screen this year, people may actually block so the play actually works. Anthony Vitale returns to the Riders as the running backs coach after working last season as the offensive line coach. The offensive line had nine different starting combinations due to long-term injuries to three starters.

On defense, Josh Bell comes in as the pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach.

Bell is a Super Bowl Champion with Green Bay in 2011 and a Grey Cup Champion with Calgary in 201. His coaching career began with the Stampeders from 2018-2020 and continued with the Argonauts and won a Grey Cup title as coach in 2022. Bell will be responsible for the Riders pass defense.

Philip Daniels is the defensive line coach who has four years of NFL coaching experience with the Philadelphia Eagles and one year working in player personnel for a year with the Washington Commanders. Daniels joined the Eagles coaching staff in 2016 as the assistant defensive line and quality control coach and was promoted to defensive line coach in 2019.

Daniels won a Super Bowl with the Eagles in 2017 and coached with the USFL Houston Gamblers. He is the father of CFL receiver DeVaris Daniels. J.C. Sherritt is the linebackers and run game coordinator. Sherritt won a Grey Cup with Edmonton in 2015 and spent a year as the Stampeders’ linebacker coach and then became the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach with Cal Poly in 2020-2021, a season at Auburn University coaching and then in 2023 was a defensive analyst at Washington State. Sherritt will be responsible for the Riders run defense.

Jorda Linnen was named the defensive assistant after spending two years as the running back coach with the Edmonton Elk. He was with Simon Fraser as defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator, a guest coach with the BC Lions in 2019 and coached with the Langley Rams of the BC Football Conference. He played junior ball with the Rams and played with the BC Lions and Montreal Alouettes nd played university ball with Acadia University and University of Manitoba.

Jeff Higgins is the special team’s assistant who spent time with the Orlando Predators of the Arena League as head coach, plus strength and conditioning coach, special team coordinator and wide receivers coach. He has been a guest coach at four CFL training camps from 2016-2019. In having Sherritt and Bell responsible for the Riders run and pass defense, Mace has shown he was aware of the pitfalls of his predecessor Craig Dickenson who spent more time with special teams than with things like managing the game.

Mace may have also kept in mind DeVonne Claybrooks, the former Stampeder defensive coordinator who when he was named coach in BC, found it tough to give up the defense play calling and, in the process, left former BC quarterback Michael Reilly at the mercy of a Swiss cheese offensive line that hastened Reilly`s retirement.

For the Riders to succeed, the Riders coaching staff needs to eliminate the boneheaded coaching calls that helped sink the team at various times. One of the interesting questions is how Mace will handle the game calls that Dickenson had problems with last year, but turning the defense over to two like Bell and Sherritt will help free Mace up to be a better head coach.

The coaching staff has gotten good reviews from observers so far, especially Harrison for the job he did with the Argos the last couple of years. The Riders seem dedicated to improving their offensive line play and running game and expect to see more of an emphasis on the running game this year.

The Riders made other moves including releasing linebacker Derek Moncrief who has settled down in Regina, but was ill-served by the Riders last year playing him in positions for which he was not prepared for. They also renegotiated quarterback Trevor Harris` salary to free up money for free agency. Harris probably remembered how Reilly went from Edmonton to BC as a free agent, became the highest paid player on the team but did not leave the team enough salary cap space to sign some decent offensive linemen. In the rest of the CFL, the Edmonton Elk signed McLeod Bethel Thompson to a one-year contract. Chris Jones is facing a make it or break it year as the Elk are losing money and will likely be sold to a private owner.

The Elk have released a number of players including quarterback Taylor Cornelius, star of the Planet of the Apes series, and traded defensive lineman John Ceresna to Toronto for Canadian receiver Kurleigh Gittens. Edmonton made the trade to give Thompson a target he would be comfortable with in Edmonton while believing defensive linemen to be a dime a dozen. Jones is pulling out the stops to get a winning record this year before he becomes easier for the Elk to fire for not being to make lighting strike twice. Other teams are working to determine which of their free agents are cost friendly to resign while determining which free agents they may pursue.

Winnipeg has been resigning their offensive linemen, but will have a problem in keeping quarterback Dru Brown, who may be ready to leave in free agency. The Riders may go for Brown, but I personally hope they will pick up a few Argonaut free agents, especially on defense who can help the Riders improve their self-destructive defense. In a season where Rider fans are likely to take a sit back attitude to see how things unfold, so far, the Riders have managed to hit the right notes as they attempt to snap out off the funk they have been in the last two seasons.

I am impressed that Mace has kept in mind the words of the great philosopher Clint Eastwood who said “A man has to know his limitations“ and is applying his knowledge from his previous coaching stints and knowing he cannot afford to concentrate on just one aspect of the Riders and neglect the others. It may be early in the year, but assuming the Riders can somehow get to 9-9 record this year, the year to keep your eye on will be next season when Mace and his staff will have a year under their belts and a better grasp of the team they are building here.

Funnily enough, Winnipeg is hosting the Grey Cup next year and wouldn`t it be something if the Riders win their fifth Grey Cup in the Winnipeg where dreams go to die.

by Greg Urbanoski

Riders name coaching staff: Next Stop Free Agency!

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