Jason Maas will be the head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos football team in 2019.
On The Eskimos Coach’s Show on 630 CHED Wednesday night, Maas confirmed his return after meeting with Brock Sunderland, the Eskimos’ general manager and vice-president of football.
“Brock and I sat down and digested everything for about eight hours, and at the end of it, we came to the conclusion that I am going to go forward and coach the team,” Maas said.
“I’m happy for that, I wanted to do that and I am excited about it.”
Next season will be Maas’ fourth as head coach of the Eskimos and it sounds like he will be head coach only, giving up his current additional duties as offensive co-ordinator.
Listen below: Eskimos head coach Jason Maas speaks to 630 CHED about returning to the team in 2019.
“I’ll take some time to divulge that information later, but definitely it is something that I am leaning towards,” he said of possibly dropping his offensive co-ordinator duties. “I think promoting from within is what I will do.”
Maas mentioned quarterbacks coach and pass-game co-ordinator Jordan Maksymic as his likely replacement as offensive co-ordinator, adding that he will still be involved in the offence.
“I will still be heavily involved, but it will allow me to float around the room a bit more and get more involved.”
As for other changes to the coaching staff, Maas said he was “going to look at everything on our staff and figure it out, but that won’t happen for awhile.”
With Maas as head coach over the last three years, the Eskimos have recorded 31 wins and 23 losses and reached the Canadian Football League’s divisional finals in both 2016 and 2017 before missing this year’s playoffs with a 9-9 record.
On Thursday the Eskimos announced that four coaches will not be returning for the 2019 season. Special teams coordinator Dave Jackson, receivers coach D.J. McCarthy, offensive quality control coach Kelly Bates, and defensive quality control coach Rob Payne will not be back with the team next season. The Eskimos says the entire coaching staff will be announced at a later date.
Maas said he is determined to be a better coach next season and is excited to get to work on 2019. He said he plans to be in the office this week and next before a hunting trip at the end of the month — then it’s all business.
“I’m actually very motivated to start working again,” he said. “I’m not going to take much time off at all.
“I want to dive into the season and start watching things with our coaches and get ready.”
Watch below: Some videos from Global News’ coverage of the Edmonton Eskimos in 2018.
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