The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ newly appointed offensive coordinator Kelly Jeffrey isn’t afraid of a good challenge.
“I’m one who looks for challenges,” Jeffrey said via Zoom from his home in New Brunswick. “My first head coaching job they’d had one winning season in 34 years when I took over, my second head coaching job at Mount Allison I took over a team that (had) three wins and 45 losses over their last 48 games and had a 100-point loss in their recent history.”
“I don’t look for established organizations, I don’t look for (a situation) where everything is rolling, I don’t want to follow up a legend and have things easy, I see an opportunity.”
An opportunity is certainly one thing that Jeffrey has ahead of him as he takes over as the Riders’ offensive head after one season with the team spent as the linebacker coach.
“This is my dream job, so I’m excited to be a part of Rider Nation and I can’t wait to have 2023 get here,” he said.
Jeffrey may not have been the first or obvious choice to take over the offensive coordinator duties in 2023, but was successful after multiple reports cited many potential candidates turned down the position to lead the offence of one of the league’s most popular teams.
However, he is coming into the new season excited for the opportunity to run an offence in a pro league, while also bringing some added fuel to his desire to win.
“I’m very fired up about it, I’m going to hold that as fuel tight to me,” he admitted. “As people turned this down, I think if they’re so great then the circumstances about this organization shouldn’t matter, if they’re worried about the head coach and GM their status (only being under contract for one more year), those things shouldn’t matter if you think you’re the guy for the job.”
“I think I’m the guy for the job and those things don’t concern me at all, we’re going to move this thing forward. I’m pumped, I cannot wait to get started and I’m betting on myself. If you’re betting on yourself then the outside factors don’t ring true.”
This isn’t the first time that Jeffrey has been in control of a team’s offence, holding the offensive coordinator title with the Mount Allison University Mounties in 2006 and 2007 before shifting duties to become the team’s head coach, a role he held for eight seasons.
Before that he spent four seasons as both head coach and OC for Mayville State University in North Dakota.
“Kelly Jeffrey is an outstanding coach and a man of high character and integrity,” Head Coach Craig Dickenson said in a statement released by the team. “We are thrilled that he has accepted the offensive coordinator job and look forward to an outstanding year with him leading the offence in 2023.”
Jeffrey does have his work cut out for him heading into 2023, as he takes over a Roughriders offence that struggled throughout the back half of the season, averaging just 18.9 points per game, the second-lowest offensive average in the CFL.
“I’m going to put guys in a position to be successful and we’re going to work really hard to get playmakers the ball in ways that they can do damage on offence,” he explained.
Those damage-causing playmakers could certainly come out of the Riders’ backfield in 2022, with the return of the two-pronged running back attack of Jamal Morrow and Frankie Hickson.
In a 12-game, injury-shortened season Morrow ran rampant across the CFL, churning up 666 yards on the ground, good for the fourth most in the CFL, while Hickson rumbled for 533 over the same span.
Both should get plenty of looks this upcoming season following Dickenson’s running mandate, that he addressed during the team’s season wrap-up conference in early November.
“I love running the football, I think the more physical team usually wins and one of my philosophies as a coach is you want to impose your will and control the line of scrimmage,” he said.
“To seal a victory, if you cannot run the ball you’re going to have a hard time closing games,” Jeffrey echoed. “So, running the ball is going to be very important.”
Morrow, the team’s featured back, had nothing but high praise for Jeffrey after re-signing with the team just less than a week ago.
“Coach Kelly was a staple for me this past season, we developed a relationship throughout the whole season and I love his coaching style,” Morrow said. “He’s a guy that believed in us and believed in our running back room, so we love him.”
“If he takes the offensive coordinator position, it would be a huge success for this team, if he’s in it then I’m super excited.”
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