Corey Mace let it be known how much he wanted the Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach job.
“I just want you to know, I want this f*cking job,” Mace said, per source, to end his initial interview with general manager Jeremy O’Day. That resonated with the front office.
The Riders interviewed nine people for the open bench boss position, but none of the candidates left a lasting first impression like Mace. O’Day conducted five-plus hour sessions with prospective candidates, which led to a podium of finalists.
Scott Milanovich wanted to be in Florida as much as possible and come up to “kick-a**” coaching for the season. However, O’Day had been there and done that with Chris Jones and Craig Dickenson to an extent. It was important to the 49-year-old GM that whichever person he hired was committed to Saskatchewan.
With Milanovich not a fit and out of the process, the decision came down to two men, Mace and Buck Pierce. The former Argonauts defensive coordinator had flight issues for his final, in-person interview. He landed around 6 p.m. local time on Sunday night, met with O’Day late into the night and flew back to Toronto first thing in the morning. Pierce touched down in Regina around 2 p.m. on Monday, staying in the city for approximately 24 hours until leaving Tuesday afternoon.
Because Pierce was in the building on a weekday, he met more people in the organization and around the city than Mace did which led to speculation that signs were pointing to him earning the position. The Blue Bombers’ offensive coordinator caused O’Day to think hard about his final call.
Team president Craig Reynolds told O’Day to trust his gut. O’Day slept on it Tuesday night, came into the Riders office at Mosaic Stadium on Wednesday morning and let his decision be known, but Reynolds already knew. Never had Reynolds heard O’Day talk about a coach the way he raved about Mace throughout the process.
“O’Day liked and respected Piece, but came to love Mace,” a source said. Just as assistant general manager Kyle Carson predicted at the start of the process. Carson knew Mace well from their time together with the Calgary Stampeders.
Mace’s commitment and passion stood out from start to finish. Pierce never came out and emphatically said he wanted the job. While the guy the Riders were favouring came out and said it with conviction, that mattered. He let the franchise know his family, wife Petra, children Maleena and Micah, wanted to move to Regina. That was important to O’Day and the organization.
O’Day wanted his new head coach to be in the city grinding with him the whole year, living there, representing the club in the community and Mace is all-in from football and community standpoints. Both men want to be aggressive and physical on the field while being involved and part of the prairie culture away from the stadium.
The new pair agreed on one major topic: quarterback. Mace believes Trevor Harris is a guy Saskatchewan can win with as QB1. When Mace was asked about what went wrong in Riderville last year, he talked about what could have been done differently and ended by saying: “Let’s be honest, you lost a future Hall of Fame quarterback.”
Mace’s honesty and authenticity gives the Riders a much-needed fresh start. He’s the team’s first Canadian head coach since Cal Murphy in 1999.
