The Saskatchewan Roughriders鈥� 2015 season concluded with a bang Sunday afternoon in Montreal, as rookie quarterback Brett Smith came off the bench facing a 24-6 deficit early in the fourth quarter and rallied the Riders to a 30-24 victory over the Alouettes in the final game for both teams.
It was, to be honest, somewhat unexpected. The Season That Wouldn鈥檛 End continued to be just that, however, I was willing to put in a little more time calling the action because the story unfolding at Percival Molson Stadium was remarkable. Rookie Rider kicker Tyler Crapigna tied the game with a 39-yard field goal with 1:02 remaining to send it to overtime.
That鈥檚 when Smith found star receiver Weston Dressler for a four-yard touchdown pass and the Alouettes ultimately turned it over on downs in their only possession.
Riders win!
Perhaps for just that evening, the Saskatchewan Roughriders could feel good about themselves. The win capped their record at 3-15, which means this club won鈥檛 go down as the worst team in Rider history. That honour belongs to the 1959 Riders who finished 1-15, and equalled the 3-15 record of 1999. At the very least, these Riders didn鈥檛 set a franchise record for losses in a year.
And now the retrospective begins.
It was about a month ago I was driving my 15-year old daughter home from school when she asked, 鈥淲here did it all go wrong Dad?鈥� She was referring to the Riders鈥� historic fall from 2013 Grey Cup champions to the CFL鈥檚 last-place team less than two years later.
I had to pause for a moment to think about the answer because it鈥檚 an incredibly complex situation. The easy and simple answer is that quarterback Darian Durant went down with injury, twice, and the club was a collective 5-21 without him (including last year鈥檚 18-10 playoff loss in Edmonton in the Western semifinal).
However if it was that easy, Head Coach Corey Chamblin and General Manager Brendan Taman would鈥檝e kept their jobs. As it was, they were fired together Aug. 31 when the Riders started the season 0-9.
Thirty-six-year old quarterback Kevin Glenn was signed this past off-season to ensure the team wouldn鈥檛 falter in the event of another injury to Duran, but when he went down in Week 1, the team still couldn鈥檛 win.
The Roughriders鈥� defence was the culprit, in this reporter鈥檚 opinion, for the write-off of a season 2015 became. It wasn鈥檛 Darian Durant鈥檚 responsibility to tackle and even if he stayed healthy this year, it鈥檚 reasonable to assume the defensive problems would鈥檝e remained. Unfortunately that鈥檚 something we鈥檒l never know, and there鈥檚 a line of thought that the train wreck can still all be pinned on his injuries.
However the team鈥檚 brain trust felt otherwise, and that鈥檚 why the change was made just prior to Labour Day weekend.
There really is no point examining what went wrong any further although interim GM Jeremy O鈥橠ay and interim head coach Bob Dyce are now going back over all aspects of the football operations department including their draft selection, scouting mechanism and individual evaluations of the players and coaching staff.
They鈥檙e doing that while not knowing if they鈥檒l even be in the same roles by mid-December. Team president Craig Reynolds is now conducting what we鈥檙e told is an 鈥渆xhaustive鈥� search for the team鈥檚 next general manager and following the conclusion of that, a new head coach will be named followed by the announcement of his staff. The hiring of the new GM is expected before the New Year.
O鈥橠ay has made no secret of the fact he鈥檇 like strong consideration to be the next general manager and he seems like the natural choice. He鈥檚 been groomed for this position since his retirement as a player after the 2010 season, however it鈥檚 no slam dunk.
This could very well be the most important hire of Reynolds鈥� entire tenure. The lone strike against O鈥橠ay is that he鈥檚 never performed the job before and that makes many Rider fans nervous. A lot would prefer a more seasoned football man for the position and that will weigh into Reynolds鈥� consideration, no doubt.
Several candidates have already applied and we鈥檙e told there鈥檚 a 鈥渞ock star鈥� applicant among them, however his identity is unknown by anyone other than Reynolds.
It鈥檚 going to make the next few weeks incredibly interesting and will be a hot topic at Grey Cup Week in Winnipeg.
Rider great Roger Aldag once said there are only two seasons in Saskatchewan 鈥� Rider season and winter.
So it鈥檚 now winter, but the Riders will be front and centre all through the upcoming winter months.
Thanks for reading this column over the past six months and rest assured knowing the best days for the Riders are yet to come!
