Every Monday afternoon on the SportsCage, join Barney Shynkaruk and members from the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ coaching staff with a breakdown of game match-ups and the very latest from inside the Riders’ locker room.
On August 26, Riders’ Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Jeremy O’Day was our guest on the Riders Coaches Show.
Barney Shynkaruk:
Here's Jeremy O'Day joining us. Jeremy, thanks for doing this on a Monday. I know the guys are off, but you are hard at work.
Jeremy O’Day:
Yeah, no, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.
Shynkaruk:
Let's review the game in Calgary. First, as a former player with ties to the team and, obviously, as a general manager, Calgary is a good football team. Everyone is giving them credit. What, through your lens, did you see in that game?
O’Day:
Yeah, I think they just played better than us. I felt that they played better up front. You know, I thought we started slow in the game. I thought we had played one good quarter in the second quarter, where we battled back. We went in at half, and took the lead at half. I was hoping that would bring some energy to the team going in after not playing a good first quarter, but unfortunately, they had a better second half than we did. We need to play cleaner. We're making uncharacteristic mistakes but you know, every week's different, every opponent's different, every week will have a different challenge. I'm proud of the guys of where we're at right now. Obviously, you're only as good as your last game, and we need to clean up the mistakes we made and get back on track.
Kris Mazurak:
So, we're just looking forward to Labour Day and the obviously huge crowd. Get back out there and get back on track. Jeremy I was at the game and watching from the stands. It was hard-fought football on both sides. Every yard wasn't easy. Is there anything that Calgary did on Saturday? That was new, or maybe you weren't expecting from the game back in July, at Mosaic.
O’Day:
Yeah, I'm not particularly involved with the game plan and what they've been doing offensively and defensively for the past number of weeks. I'm more involved on a different level than that. Still, from a general manager's standpoint, I think they had a game plan, came out trying to run the football, and did a nice job. We've had a lot of success stopping the run throughout the season. We've done a good job of controlling the clock. I think it was a battle there with them having some success in the run game, and us having some mistakes here and there. A drop pass here or a missed assignment up front, those mistakes make all the difference in the game and they're hard to overlook.
Mazurak:
This one's a little weird because obviously you're an opponent of Calgary, and you'll probably see them again in the playoffs sometime. But as a fan of the CFL for yourself and as a general manager, to see them rebuild this team so quickly with all the new guys they have coming in this year, similar to you guys last year. Just as a GM and a fan of the league how impressive is it?
O’Day:
It's great to see when a team can do that, unless it's against us.
Ultimately in our league with the structure of contracts and the turnover of players, you have the ability to improve your team if you have a tough season. The strength of all the teams in our league is important, so, it's difficult when you do see teams struggling. Ultimately, every year, there will be some teams that are going to lose more games than others.
It's nice that there was a great crowd there our fans really turned out. It's nice to see that. I played back in the day when a lot of the stadiums were full and you expected a full crowd. So it's nice to see that they had the fans in the stands and like I said, our fans were equally as loud in that first half and it's nice that they came out and supported us on the road. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get the job done.
Mazurak:
That's probably one of their only sellouts they'll have all year, probably and Labour Day. A few weeks ago, one of your former teammates, Darian Durant, said, "in the West Division it doesn't matter what the records are. Anybody can beat anybody."
If that was the message back when you guys played together, is that still the message that the coaching staff delivers to the players today? Throw records out the window because we're taking on a five-and-four bomber team this weekend, like everybody can beat anybody on any given day.
O’Day:
I think it's almost the whole league, not just the West Division.
I know that players who have played in the West will favour the West Division and always look strongly at the West Division. I would say every week is a difficult challenge, no matter who you're playing, East or West.
The West are a little more hyped up because it's in your division, right? Those are the rivalries that you have playing against divisional teams.
Still, there is no easy game in the CFL. Like I said, every team has its challenges. Some teams will come in with more guys injured, or there will be guys down on their roster that may give you an advantage. You're dealing with the same thing on your own roster. The West is always tough and I think more so if you're against a rival.
Shynkaruk:
How busy are the next 48 hours or maybe 72, whatever it is, with NFL cuts coming down tomorrow? Many people are talking about Kyle Hergel, last year's first-round pick, being released or going on waivers with New Orleans. How busy are you for the next few days? Did you reach out to Hergel's Camp right away when something like that happens, maybe a look behind the curtain there, Jeremy
O’Day:
Yeah, so first of all, it's a really busy time because this is when you know the players negotiation lists are very active with players going on and off. If you have some guys in the NFL, like we do, you're watching them. You've been watching them all preseason, but today, tomorrow, and even a couple of days ago, when teams are starting to release some of their guys from camp, it's very busy. Moving guys around on your negotiation list.
As far as the guys that we drafted, or even Ajou Ajou, who was on our roster last year, we contact the agents. In some cases, you want to give them a bit of space because they were released from their team, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't sign back on the practice roster. So it's normal for the player's name to come up, saying they've been released. It's also important for us not to get too carried away moving everyone on and off the negotiation list because the following day, everyone could get on the practice roster. Usually, it's all the guys that you moved around on your negotiation list.
We'll know their status in the next 24 to 48 hours, and then we'll see if there's a conversation to be had with those guys. So yes, we reach out to them and stay in contact with them. We don't want to step on anyone's shoes and stuff. Other teams can also claim them if they have a spot on their practice roster, if they have had injuries, if they want to bring him in, or if he did well enough in the preseason. They can also sign them to their practice squad.
Mazurak:
Labour Day is coming up on Sunday, and the Bombers come to town. It's the 60th Labour Day classic. Who was the quarterback in your first Labour Day classic, and how did the game turn out? What was that like for you as a player? There are going to be some players going through it for the first time this weekend.
O’Day:
That's a long time ago, I don't even know who the quarterback would be to be honest with you. There were a bunch of different ones that I played in, but I think the most memorable one would have been at the 2007 Labour Day Classic with Kerry Joseph. We hit a quarterback draw at the end to win the game. It was a huge, exciting game.
I've been in Labour Day games where we won with a game-winning kick. All sorts of things have happened on Labour Day. I go back all the way into the old stadium. People were standing on the grass for the Labour Day game and putting people in standing room only so that it would be a packed house. I'm excited for it. Pill Country will probably be overflowing, which is awesome, but it's just a great rivalry. If you can't get excited for this game, you shouldn't be involved with football.
Shynkaruk:
Exciting! I heard you guys did some tours of some NFL camps on the bye week, and you went down and checked out some NFL preseason games. What can you tell us about that?
O’Day:
It just worked out well this year with our bye that the NFL camps were in full swing. The camps don't have as much time as they used to have where you could go down and visit. So, they're a little bit more compacted than they were back in the day. I haven't been able to get out for a couple of years and it worked out perfectly with our bye-week. We were in Montreal the week before, so we flew out of Montreal, and all our scouts were already on the road. I got to go out to three NFL camps and a preseason game, so it takes you back to where it all started when you got to go out and do the scouting.
The fun part of the job is when you go out and start looking for future Riders. You're looking at potential guys to put on your negotiation list or guys you want to track and have their names available.
The NFL teams usually treat us really well. They bring us in and let us watch practice and watch film. Then, you meet with their personnel department and have an early look at what they think the roster would look like at the end of camp. You get an idea of who you should be looking at when you talk to them.
Shynkaruk:
Is that the great thing about football, no matter the league? It seems like a real brotherhood of people trying to help people succeed, no matter what role or how they do it. Yeah, I think so.
O’Day:
I think you know the football world is big, but it's a small world if that makes sense. There's a lot of football out there. There's a close-knit group of people. They're usually pretty helpful, and sometimes it's vice versa, too. They also understand that they will want to talk to you about some of your players at some point, right? So, it's give-and-take, and most of them are very receptive.
Some are more secretive. They don't want you to see their schemes and game plans. You're not actually there to look at any of that; you're just there to evaluate the player and try to get a good scouting network of players down the road. Most of them are excellent. You can say that some are maybe better than others. Still, most are very welcoming and let you attend practice and watch films. So it's always a fun part of the year.
Shynkaruk:
Is that reciprocated at all? When you think about it on your end, are there university coaches coming up, or any of the junior coaches, or anything like that?
O’Day:
I'd say not as much as you would expect. I know that in training camp, we open our doors to junior coaches and the university coaches. The U of S guys come out and watch practice because they're all there. We certainly welcome them in the same way as the NFL teams allow us to come in. We enable them to come in and watch practice and in some cases attend meetings. It's always a good thing when we're trying to develop young coaches.
Shynkaruk:
We haven't had you since the big announcement a few weeks ago that there will be a preseason game in Saskatoon. It's the first one since 1991, which is mind-boggling to think it was that long ago. How exciting is this?
I mean, you've done the training camp thing in Saskatoon as a player, and now as a manager, I think it's great to give the people of Saskatchewan or Saskatoon North a taste of Rider football who maybe don't make it to games in Regina.
O’Day:
I think it's awesome. I thought it was a great idea when I first heard about it. Obviously, it helps that we get another game at the stadium so that our season ticket holders are rewarded.
Still, it allows everyone in Saskatoon to come to a CFL game, and obviously, there are challenges with holding the game outside of your city, but we're going to be there for training camp. It will be seamless for us, but the game day will obviously have a lot of work there. We've always said we need to be outside Regina and ensure everyone knows that we're Saskatchewan's team. It's a big reason we go to training camp in Saskatoon. We want to show people throughout the province that we want to be in the community as much as possible. It allows fans to come out and watch practice and see our guys up close. It brings a sense of belonging to everyone in Saskatchewan.
Shynkaruk:
I'll end on this one because I remembered the question. The next time we get Jeremy O'Day on, I've got to ask him, you brought in Campbell Fair to do some kicking last week. He puddle jumps to get to Regina, Dave Thomas had a great story on how hard it was for him to get here. When you have to go out and get these guys, Jeremy, maybe you released them after camp, and these guys have moved on. Do they let you know that they're going to take that accounting job? Maybe I'm not going to be staying in shape. How does that work? I've always wondered that because many guys move on with life. Do you keep in touch with them, or can you just reach out? How does that work?
O’Day:
Yeah, we try to keep in touch with as many as possible. You also want to be careful because you don't want to have any false expectations that you will bring them at some point. You don't want to promise something that won't happen, but you keep tabs on all the guys.
Still, you're right. When you get to the point where you're going to offer a guy a practice roster or a contract, you don't know exactly what they're doing. So there's a little bit of an interview process when you call them. Are you in shape? And in this case, have you been kicking?
I can tell you that they always say I'm in great shape every time or I've been working out and practicing all the time, and then they're probably still working a job as well. It's to the point where I don't know why we even ask because you're always going to get the same answer. Everyone's always ready.
Trevor Harris and I joke that every time I call him, he says, "I'm just leaving the gym." Regardless of the time of day, he tells me I just got out of the gym. I said if I had a quarter every time I called a player and they told me they were leaving the gym, I'd be all set.
It's just that they want you to know that they're prepared and ready for the opportunity. Every situation is different because some guys might have had to move on. Maybe they've been chasing it for a while or had to get a regular job. Then you call and they say, "Oh no, I want to go back and play football." Then they leave their job, which is a whole other animal.
We try to stay in touch with them. Our personnel department does a good job keeping tabs on the guys and keeping them fresh. When you come down with your offer, you know if they're really serious.
Shynkaruk:
Well, like Maz said, it's Labour Day weekend. It will be exciting, and we always appreciate you making time to hop on Jeremy. Good luck this weekend and then the rest of the season, obviously.
O’Day:
Yeah, I appreciate you guys. Thanks for having me on. Let's go Labour Day Classic.
