{"id":306718,"date":"2025-11-25T21:26:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/306718\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T21:26:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T21:26:08","slug":"riders-gm-jeremy-oday-reflects-on-successful-season-work-begins-on-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/306718\/","title":{"rendered":"Riders\u2019 GM Jeremy O\u2019Day reflects on successful season, work begins on 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeremy O\u2019Day<\/a> says winning the Grey Cup this year<\/a> with the Saskatchewan Roughriders brought the same feeling of elation as his previous two championships, even though his celebrations looked a little different.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s won the Grey Cup three times with the Riders. The first was in 2007 as a player, the second was in 2013 as the team\u2019s assistant general manager and the most recent win came on Nov. 16, with O\u2019Day serving as the main man in the Roughriders\u2019 football operations.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you win as a player, you can maybe drink a little more champagne and celebrate with your teammates<\/a> a little bit more. It\u2019s just different,\u201d O\u2019Day told reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking to congratulate all the players. I\u2019m trying to see their families at the post-game party and try to spend as much time as possible with my family that was there.\u201d<\/p>\n

But while he\u2019s not celebrating in the same way he did when he was a player, O\u2019Day said the feeling of winning the championship doesn\u2019t change.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly the same feeling. I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s much different. When you win, you\u2019re elated to see guys that have fought so hard through the season. You see those guys breaking down with their parents there that you haven\u2019t met. It\u2019s a pretty special moment when you do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Day said there\u2019s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into winning a championship, and it starts well before the CFL season does.<\/p>\n

\u201cStarting all the way back in training camp, we\u2019ve always talked about our experience in Saskatoon<\/a> and how it\u2019s important for our team to get away a little bit but for all of us to be under the same roof,\u201d O\u2019Day said. \u201cGoing through training camp, you always get a sense of the team you have and you don\u2019t have a crystal ball to say \u2018Hey, this is going to be a championship team at the end of the year,\u2019 but we certainly felt confident in our team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the lack of a crystal ball, the general manager said there was a strong sense early on that this team could content for the Grey Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of players just had a feeling, even from the start,\u201d he said. \u201cI think there was just a sense of what was to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Riders finished the regular season with a CFL-best 12-6 record<\/a> and hosted the B.C. Lions in the CFL West Final. After beating the Lions,<\/a> Saskatchewan went on to win the 112th Grey Cup in Winnipeg<\/a>, beating the Montreal Alouettes 25-27.<\/p>\n

Now, O\u2019Day is turning his attention to building the roster for 2026 as the team tries to win back-to-back Grey Cups<\/a> for the first time in franchise history.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just won the Grey Cup a week ago, so I haven\u2019t had any players walk in and tell me they didn\u2019t want to be part of the team, but we haven\u2019t gone down the road with all of those, in fairness,\u201d O\u2019Day said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just starting those conversations with the agents. We are just at the end of the evaluation process on our own side of it. Now, we\u2019re going to have those conversations with all the free agents. I suspect it will be like any other year. Obviously we had a good team, but also there will be some players we don\u2019t get back.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those pending free agents is quarterback Trevor Harris<\/a>, 39, who has said he will speak with O\u2019Day and his family about playing another season in the CFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo breaking news today, but we have had discussions,\u201d O\u2019Day said. \u201cTrevor got on the road a couple days ago, and we had a good discussion before he left. Right now, that\u2019s just the gist of it. It\u2019s an early conversation. We\u2019d love to have Trevor back, and I think he knows that. It\u2019s just a matter of us getting back on the phone and trying to work something out.\u201d<\/p>\n

After winning seasons, it\u2019s not just players who can be on the move, but coaches as well. The Green Zone and TSN CFL insider Dave Naylor reported on Monday that the Toronto Argonauts expressed interest in bringing back Riders\u2019 head coach Corey Mace, but Mace told them he\u2019s not leaving the province.<\/p>\n

Hamilton @Ticats<\/a> president of football operations Orlondo Steinaur declined an invitation to interview for @TorontoArgos<\/a> head coaching job. @TorontoArgos<\/a> also had interest in bringing Corey Mace back as head coach-plus titles but was communicated to them he\u2019s not leaving\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dave Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) November 24, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t call. No one asked for permission, so I\u2019m not quite sure where that came from. When we did hear about it, Corey did tell us he\u2019s not interested in going anywhere,\u201d O\u2019Day said. \u201cThey did not reach out to us for permission.\u201d<\/p>\n

As O\u2019Day begins the process of bringing players back for next season, he said the Riders have become an organization players want to join and want to stay with.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to think that you just had to have the nicest house on the block, which I am referring to the stadium,\u201d O\u2019Day said. \u201cWhen we were in the old stadium, I used to say we were disadvantaged because we were in an old stadium. It is important, and we are very grateful for this beautiful stadium and facility that we are privileged to come to work here.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when it comes to attracting players, O\u2019Day said the really important aspect is the people inside the building.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something I have learned. If you can get them both, that\u2019s great, but it\u2019s really about the people. You have to have people around you that you like working with, that you enjoy going to work with, but it\u2019s not all fun and games. You have to work hard, but we\u2019re going to enjoy each other. I think that\u2019s the difference,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing against any of our old coaches, staff, players or anything like that. It\u2019s hard to explain, but when it comes together and everyone enjoys being around each other, there\u2019s a little extra that goes into it. You just want to win more for each other than yourself. Very unselfish people in the building and a lot of people who deflect credit when they probably should take the credit. It\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n