Members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ football operations department operate at a different level.
That can be interpreted two ways.
WAY: Whereas many Roughriders’ employees are based in the fourth-floor business office at Mosaic Stadium, the folks in football ops are stationed in closer proximity to the locker room and meeting areas.
ANOTHER WAY: They are exceptional at their jobs — as evidenced by the Roughriders’ Grey Cup championship season of 2025.
Since Nov. 16, the reigning CFL champions have been recognized in myriad ways.
Four months have elapsed since the Roughriders’ 25-17 Grey Cup victory over the Montreal Alouettes and the accolades are still rolling in.
On Thursday, for example, the Roughriders were announced as one of three finalists for the Ted Goveia Football Operations Award.
The Calgary Stampeders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats are also nominated for the inaugural award, which recognizes excellence in scouting, player identification, roster construction and leadership.
The winner is to be announced on Thursday in Edmonton during the league’s Coach of the Year celebration. Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas are the finalists for the coaching honour.
Much has been made of Mace’s contributions — and rightfully so — but he is always quick to deflect the credit to his colleagues.
“Coach of the Year,” in Mace’s appraisal, is self-effacing Offensive Line Coach Edwin Harrison, who would rather dispense with the praise. That is one reason why Mace persists in hyping the issue.
The over-riding factor, though, is merit.
Harrison has worked wonders with an offensive line that has been ravaged by injuries during both his seasons as a Roughrider.
In 2024, Saskatchewan started 12 different offensive linemen. That number decreased slightly, by one, in 2025.
The latter total does not include Sean McEwen, who signed with Saskatchewan as a free agent in February of 2025. The three-time All-CFL centre suffered a season-ending knee injury early in training camp.
Despite encountering injury-related instability throughout each of the past two seasons, Saskatchewan has staged back-to-back home playoff games.
The strength up front was such that quarterback Trevor Harris was not sacked in the 2025 Western Final or the Grey Cup.
The strength of the front office was also evident.
Jeremy O’Day (Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager), Kyle Carson (Assistant GM/Director of Player Personnel), Paul Jones (Assistant GM) and Larry Dean (Assistant Director of Player Personnel) have provided reinforcements on top of reinforcements.
As another example, consider the receiving corps.
The Roughriders fielded 11 different first-unit pass-catchers in 2024 and 10 last year.
Two sets of starters in one championship season!
That is a testament to the team’s depth, which would not be possible without the efforts of O’Day and associates — a group that also receives integral contributions from Jordan Greenly (Director, Football Operations).
Greenly routinely handles a blizzard of logistical details without even blinking.
His office is a first down away from the quarters of Carson, who is widely regarded as the CFL’s next great GM.
When I strolled past Carson’s workspace last week, he was holding a telephone in one hand and a remote control in the other.
There he was, watching film and touching base at the same time. Multi-tasking, Kyle style.
Not far away, Dean’s office door was closed. He was on another scouting mission.
As for Jones, his office is a mere 2,700 kilometres away — in the Alabama community of Grand Bay.
A well-established player-personnel genius, Jones has helped to build Grey Cup-winning teams with Winnipeg (1988, 1990), Edmonton (2003, 2005, 2015) and Saskatchewan (2025).
Similarly, Goveia was an important, oft-unsung contributor to two championship teams in Winnipeg. He was the Assistant GM and Director of Player Personnel when the Blue Bombers won it all in 2019 and 2021.
Goveia became a first-time Grey Cup champion in 2012, as the Toronto Argonauts’ Director of Canadian Scouting. That Argos team also included a first-year CFL quarterback named Trevor Harris.
All things considered, Goveia devoted 30-plus years to the great game of Canadian football — coaching or scouting in the college and professional ranks.
His efforts were typically behind the scenes. It wasn’t until Dec. 5, 2024 when he was named a general manager.
Sadly, Goveia’s time in the Tiger-Cats’ GM’s chair wouldn’t even last a year. He died of cancer on Sept. 12.
Fittingly, the CFL has established an award to honour his contributions and his good name.
“In keeping with Goveia’s philosophy that teams are built collectively, the award will be presented to a group rather than an individual,” read a portion of a media release issued Thursday by the CFL.
“Goveia did not believe in sole responsibility in player acquisition,” the release continued, “preferring to acknowledge the many contributions needed to identify, scout and sign new additions.”
In that spirit, Goveia would undoubtedly be uncomfortable with seeing his name attached to a group award.
A comparable mindset compels O’Day to invariably deflect the praise and accentuate the collective efforts.
As a four-time Grey Cup champion, he knows of what he speaks.