The positive buzz around the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ hiring of Corey Mace as the team’s new head coach has yet to decrescendo and another voice praising the move has been added to the chorus.
“He’s going to take the city by storm,” former Toronto Argonauts’ and Calgary Stampeders’ head coach Jim Barker told The Rod Pedersen Show. “He’s a perfect match for this.”
Mace has officially been unveiled as the 45th head coach for the Roughriders, replacing Craig Dickenson who was relieved of his duties following another disappointing season. The Riders finished 6-12 in 2023 and failed to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Part of the fix in Saskatchewan will require the team to add talent to a roster that underachieved in 2023. While everyone seems on board with Trevor Harris returning as the team’s starting quarterback in 2024, the Riders roster needs some reinforcements if they hope to pull off what the Montreal Alouettes did last month.
“He can attract players. Flo Orimolade was going somewhere else and he came (to Toronto) because of Corey Mace,” Barker said. “Players love playing for him.”
The Riders have a long list of pending free agents, including 2023 West Division all-star Larry Dean, defensive linemen Anthony Lanier and Micah Johnson, and 2022 Most Outstanding Special Teams Player Mario Alford.
Players familiar with Mace from his time in Calgary and Toronto that could be available in February include linebacker Wynton McManis, running back A.J. Ouellette, defensive back Jamal Peters and defensive linemen Shawn Oakman, Mike Rose, Dewayne Hendrix and Brandon Barlow.
“He is a people person. He attracts people,” Barker said. “There are a lot of guys that when Corey Mace talks to them, they come.”
Where the Riders are going to want people to come the most is through the gates at Mosaic Stadium. Attendance has fallen by over 5,000 per game since their state-of-the-art facility opened in 2017, with the last two seasons being the two lowest attended in 17 years.
The franchise has also seen its reputation as the league’s flagship outfit take a hit in recent years. It has been a decade since the team appeared in a Grey Cup and they have watched as their prairie rivals, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, have competed in the last four championship games, winning two of them.
“He’s going to become a part of the fabric of that community (and) that’s what they need right now,” Barker said. “He’s going to have people excited and they’re going to come out and support the team.”
Barker and Mace spent one season together on the staff of the Argonauts in 2022 with the former filling the role of senior advisor while the latter was in his first year as the team’s defensive coordinator. Barker left the Argos not long after their Grey Cup triumph over the Bombers while Mace helped guide the Argos to a CFL-record-tying 16 wins in the regular season in 2023.
Before joining the Argos, Mace spent five seasons as the defensive line coach with the Calgary Stampeders, winning a Grey Cup with them in 2018. The Port Moody, B.C. native had a nine-year playing career in both the NFL and CFL, winning a Grey Cup as a player with Calgary in 2014.
