The Saskatchewan Roughriders boast a Coach of the Year winner for the fourth time in Jeremy O’Day’s lengthy and successful tenure with the CFL team.
Corey Mace, who was recognized as the 2025 recipient on Wednesday night in Edmonton, joins an elite list that also includes Kent Austin (2007), Corey Chamblin (2013) and Chris Jones (2018).
Acceptance speeches aside, is there a common denominator?
“Obviously, a big part of it is winning on the football field, but that’s probably the end product of the work that they put in,” said O’Day, the Roughriders’ Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager.
“I think all of them had a really good sense and a really good feel for the players that they’re coaching.
“I’m not completely convinced you can coach every player the same way. Every person is different. People are motivated differently. Some people can be coached harder than the others.
“With a sense of the whole group in the locker room, I think they were all pretty solid at recognizing how the players were feeling and understanding what they need — whether you need to push them or sometimes pull them back.
“Corey is really exceptional with dealing with players and talking with players. He has a commonality with them, being that he was also one of the players and understands the locker room.
“It comes down to being prepared. The players have got to trust you. They’ve got to believe what you’re saying. Ultimately, they want someone who’s going to stand up in front of them and deal with them and be honest and care about them, too. That’s something Corey does really well.”
O’Day announced the hiring of Mace on Nov. 30, 2023.
In Year 1, Mace helped the Roughriders earn a home playoff game and a berth in the Western Final. He was the division’s nominee for the Coach of the Year award, won by the Montreal Alouettes’ Jason Maas.
Mace and Maas were also the finalists in 2025, when their teams collided in the 112th Grey Cup Game — won 25-17 by Saskatchewan on Nov. 16 in Winnipeg.
It was the fourth Grey Cup championship for Mace, who had previously won it all as a player (with the Calgary Stampeders in 2014), defensive line coach (Calgary, 2018) and defensive co-ordinator (Toronto Argonauts, 2022).
O’Day began his CFL career as a player with Toronto in 1997, when the Argonauts’ Don Matthews was decorated as Coach of the Year.
In 1999, O’Day signed with Saskatchewan as a free agent began a 12-season run as a member of the team’s offensive line.
During that time, the Austin-coached Roughriders won the Grey Cup in 2007.
O’Day next earned a championship ring as the Roughriders’ Assistant GM in 2013. He was the Vice-President of Football Operations and Administration when Jones guided the 2018 edition to a 12-6 record and was duly rewarded with Coach of the Year laurels.
Overall, Mace is the eighth Roughrider to receive the prestigious prize. Steve Owen (1962), Eagle Keys (1968), Joe Faragalli (1981) and John Gregory (1989) preceded Austin, Chamblin, Jones and Mace.
“Corey reminds me all the time that he loves it here,” said O’Day who, like Mace, is under contract through the 2028 season after signing an extension in October.
“I kind of laugh. He just gets it.”
The key word being it.
“When people say that somebody has it, you don’t really know what it is,” Offensive Co-ordinator Marc Mueller said. “If you did, everyone would have it.
“There’s something about him. People gravitate toward him. He’s an easy guy to follow.”
Mueller followed Mace to Regina shortly after the head-coaching announcement was made in late November of 2023. They had worked together as assistant coaches in Calgary from 2014 to 2021, sharing in two championships there.
“When we were together in Calgary and seeing him when he was in Toronto and now being here together, I think of a guy who is a leader because he can relate to everybody,” Mueller said.
“He has been in their shoes. He’s a Canadian. He has played in the NFL. He has been at American schools. So basically, with everyone who is in that locker room, he has something to relate to them, which is pretty cool.
“A long time ago, somebody told me that you can tell who the leaders are, because people gravitate toward them at any event. At any event, people will gravitate toward Corey.
“Whether that’s at a football game, before a football game, at a community event, at a restaurant … wherever it is, people want to be around Corey.
“That’s because, first off, he’s a good person. Secondly, he always has something to add to the situation.”
Regardless of the situation.
“He’s a rare breed in terms of being a players’ coach who commands respect by his presence and by the way he does things,” said quarterback Trevor Harris, the reigning Grey Cup MVP.
“He makes it fun. We have a blast. But when it’s time to work, it’s time to work. When it’s time to be buddy-buddy with him, you know that. He toes that line so well.
“It’s innate. It’s who he is. It’s not something that he tries to do. It’s authentic. That’s what I love the most about Corey Mace. He’s authentic.
“It’s who he is. He’s not going to try to shy away from who he is. He’s not going to try and hide the type of person that he is.
“But, with the type of person he is, he’s a great man. He’s a great father. He’s a great football coach and he’s a great head coach. It’s easy to play for that guy.
“It’s tangible when he’s in the building. It’s something you can’t really experience unless you’re here. I think when people come here, they’re like, ‘Man, Mace is the man.’
“He really is. He’s the man.”
WEDNESDAY’S WINNERS
Also on Wednesday night, the Roughriders were announced as the inaugural winner of the CFL’s Ted Goveia Football Operations Award.
The award recognizes excellence in scouting, player identification, roster building and leadership.
Led by O’Day, the Roughriders’ Football Operations Department also includes Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel Kyle Carson, Assistant General Manager Paul Jones, Director of Football Operations Jordan Greenly and Assistant Director of Player Personnel Larry Dean.