Saskatchewan Roughriders GM O’Day reflects on 2021, plans for 2022

While it wasn’t the championship finish he had hoped for, Saskatchewan Roughriders general manager Jeremy O’Day was still positive about the season his team had on the field in 2021.

“We were pretty successful,” said O’Day during his season-ending press conference. “We put ourselves in a good position going into the playoffs and getting a home playoff game. It was nice for us to get that first home playoff win in our stadium, which was a big deal for us.

“But the reality is we didn’t reach our ultimate goal which is to win the Grey Cup.”

After a cancelled 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fact that the league was able to play this year is also something O’Day was thankful for. And while there were a few added challenges with the pandemic restrictions, it was worth it as the team didn’t have any outbreaks.

“We had to adjust a lot of things that we did in order to make it happen,” O’Day said. “There was a big commitment from not only the players but also the staff and coaches to commit to doing what we needed to do to get the season done.”

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There’s no indication yet what restrictions might be in place for 2022, but what we do know about the upcoming season is that Saskatchewan will be hosting the Grey Cup.

However, even with the championship at home, O’Day isn’t necessarily changing his off-season approach — and “not necessarily because the Grey Cup is here, more so just how we finished the last two years.” O’Day was referring to his team’s back-to-back West Final losses. “When you get so close and you’re a step away from going to the Grey Cup and then hopefully winning it, I think that that’s all the added pressure you need.”

But like in 2013 when the Riders won the Grey Cup on home turf, O’Day would love a similar moment in 2022.

“When you think about the ideal situation, winning at home, it doesn’t get any better than that,” said O’Day, who was the Riders assistant general manager in 2013. “As we saw in ’13, I don’t know if I’ve ever been a part of anything that was as exciting as it was to win at home.”