Changes are coming to the Saskatchewan Roughriders coaching staff.
Head coach Craig Dickenson said Friday that Jason Maas is the teams’ new offensive coordinator.
“The organization…is top notch. I know they do everything possible to win here,” Maas said.
“Having played this team, I know how good they are.”
He takes over from Stephen McAdoo, who spent four years with the Roughriders as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach.
“I’m just really excited to be part of Rider Nation. You hear about it and I think everyone knows about it,” Maas said.
“It’s a bucket list thing…if you’re a CFL guy, you want the opportunity to coach here one day.”
Maas was fired on Nov. 27 as the head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos after going a 39-33 in the regular-season record and 3-3 in the post-season over four years.
“We’re lucky to have him. I have to be honest, when I first reached out I didn’t think we had a shot,” Dickenson said.
“When you watch his offence, they always seem to be well prepared and he does a great job of using personnel.”
The Riders offence scored 419 points and had 6,715 yards of offence under rookie quarterback Cody Fajardo in 2019.
Maas was previously the offensive coordinator for the Ottawa Redblacks. The Redblacks led the CFL in offensive yards, passing yards and rushing yards in 2015.
Dickenson also extended the contract of defensive coordinator Jason Shivers.
The Riders gave up the fewest offensive touchdowns (30), the fewest yard of net offence (5,299) and led the league in sacks with 56 in 2019, the first year under Shivers.
Both contacts run through the 2021 CFL season.