{"id":57857,"date":"2025-08-09T22:25:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-09T22:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/57857\/"},"modified":"2025-08-09T22:25:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-09T22:25:21","slug":"cfl-great-andrew-harris-returns-to-football-as-roughriders-running-backs-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/57857\/","title":{"rendered":"CFL great Andrew Harris returns to football as Roughriders running backs coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Given all the times he matched up on the other side of the field for Labour Day Classics and Banjo Bowls, Andrew Harris<\/a> needed a moment the first time he put on merch of his new CFL<\/a> club \u2014 wearing Saskatchewan Roughrider<\/a> green and white for the very first time.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYeah I\u2019m not going to lie to you, the first time I put that green sweater on I had to do, not a double-take, but a triple- or quadruple-take in the mirror,\u201d said Harris. \u201cIt was a little strange.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly a strange sight to see the 38-year-old sporting the colours of what used to be his most bitter rival, but the five-time CFL all-star is now fully on board with the Roughriders as the team\u2019s new running backs coach.<\/p>\n

Harris has been working to prepare the team\u2019s group of tailbacks ahead of kickoff for the 2025 season after one year away from the game.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI did take a year off and honestly I wasn\u2019t really missing football at all,\u201d said Harris. \u201cI was in a spot where I was making good money and I was living in Ontario, but it wasn\u2019t until the playoffs last year where I started to get the itch again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[Roughriders head coach Corey Mace] called me literally four days after I was kind of having those thoughts and I said, \u2018Hell yeah, let\u2019s go.’\u201d<\/p>\n

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Officially signing on as Roughriders running backs coach in January, Harris is expected to bring a wealth of knowledge to the organization after finishing his career in early 2024 as one of the most productive Canadian-born players in CFL history.<\/p>\n

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Once hearing Harris had ambition to return to football, Mace said it was an easy choice to bring him on board.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number one thing you can tell is he loves ball,\u201d said Mace. \u201cJust his knowledge, not only of the playbook and the scheme of what it\u2019s like, but also being in the situation of being the ball carrier of how to train those guys\u2019 eyes and what to look for.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s been a really nice addition man. He brings energy and juice for us, it\u2019s been exactly what we expected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris brings one of the most extensive resumes in league history to \u2018Riderville\u2019 after 14 seasons split between the B.C. Lions, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts where he\u2019d retire with four Grey Cups to his name.<\/p>\n

Named Most Valuable Canadian in two of those championships including MVP honours in 2019, Harris would finish his professional career with 15,869 yards from scrimmage, marking the most by a Canadian in league history.<\/p>\n

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Now he\u2019ll oversee a Roughriders running back group which includes third-year tailback Thomas Bertrand-Hudon, who will be backing up starter A.J. Ouellette and who is determined to carve out his own career as a Canadian-born rusher.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean it\u2019s kind of crazy, honestly; I didn\u2019t expect [Harris\u2019 hiring],\u201d said Bertrand-Hudon. \u201cWhen I saw that we signed him, I was very pumped for it. He\u2019s been great so far, he keeps teaching us stuff like little things that he did throughout his career to help him get better.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s just nice to be able to absorb everything, all the knowledge he can give to us for the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

At training camp last month, Harris worked closely with Ouellette who is aiming to rebound after an injury-plagued 2024 season which saw him finish well short of the yardage and touchdowns he put up in 2023.<\/p>\n

The duo of Harris and Ouellette formed the backfield of the Argonauts in 2022 and 2023, a relationship the new coach is looking forward to progressing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think my last couple of years I was in that player-coach role as it was, but now it\u2019s more hands on,\u201d said Harris. \u201cI have my voice and the style that I want to lead these guys in and we have a great group of backs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI played with A.J. and we have a good relationship, so I\u2019m working with him closely and the younger guys as well. It\u2019s been a pretty seamless transition.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Ouellette, the addition of Harris on the sideline will likely mean more involvement with quarterback Trevor Harris in the overall execution of the Saskatchewan offence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always trying to get the running backs in the passing game,\u201d said Ouellette. \u201cSo he\u2019s going to be drawing up some fun plays for us, he\u2019s changing some stuff in the run game. My role is to do what\u2019s asked of me, still be the best pass-blocker I can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Drawing the ire and frustration of Riders fans in years past, especially during his tenure with his hometown Blue Bombers, Harris now hopes to be the missing piece towards winning his fifth career Grey Cup.<\/p>\n

This time, wearing the green and white of the Roughriders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just on the other side now with a different team,\u201d said Harris. \u201cThe passionate environment, the excitement, the intensity, the attitude that this province and this team brings, it\u2019s right up my alley. I\u2019m looking forward to the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harris will be on the sideline of his first regular season game on Thursday night, as the Roughriders open their 2025 CFL season against the visiting Ottawa Redblacks at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Given all the times he matched up on the other side of the field for Labour Day Classics…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57858,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[38260,49,48,521,522,520,4400,16373,82],"class_list":["post-57857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-andrew-harris","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-saskatchewan-roughriders","tag-saskatoon-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}