Mitchell Blair
Corey Chamblin isn’t going anywhere and fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders should be extremely happy to know that.
Chamblin could have written the next page of his coaching career after leading the team to the 2013 Grey Cup at the age of 36, but he has decided to spurn any offers that may come his way to continue coaching the green-and-white to a four year contract extension that will take him through the 2017 season.
“When you look at the organization itself, you have a top notch group in guys like Jim Hopson, Brendan Taman, Roger Brandvold, Jeremy O’Day and Craig Smith, you have a management team that is great,” Chamblin told reporters at a Thursday afternoon media gathering. “I’m truly excited to continue to be here for a while. We have a great vision in place and I think that will continue. This gives me and us an opportunity to keep doing the things we are doing and head in the right direction.”
GM Brendan Taman was confident his team was going to be going in the right direction when the decision was made to hire Chamblin in 2012. That was proven in November when the football team won the Grey Cup beating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. It showed Taman that going with his heart was the right choice.
“Corey brings a lot of things to the table that I was looking for when I wanted a head coach. “Taman said. “He’s knowledgeable, he’s confident, he can deal with people which is very important and he has the ability to put a very good coaching staff together which I think is huge. I wanted a guy who could stand in the room and get the message to the players and obviously Corey gets his message through whether it be good, bad or indifferent. “
As good as those qualities are Taman says it doesn’t even come close to the desire Chamblin has to win. He relayed a story told before about Chamblin making plans to improve the team less than 24 hours after a tough 2012 Western semi-final loss while saying he repeated the endeavour again after winning the Grey Cup.
“I wanted to enjoy it for a day or two, but Jim (Hopson) wanted to know who we were going to protect in the Ottawa dispersal draft,” Taman confessed. “They wanted to meet with me and I wanted to tell both of them to take off so I could enjoy it for a little bit, but that is what Corey’s all about. It shows his passion to win. He wakes up every day with ideas to improve this team so giving him this four year contract to me is a no-brainer.”
Chamblin came to Regina after coaching stints in Calgary and Hamilton. His regular-season record is 19-17 with a playoff record of 3-1 and a Grey Cup record of 1-0. His accomplishments in 2014 were rewarded when he was named the CFL coach of the year. He could rest on those laurels, but his competitive fire will not allow him to do that.
“That same fire and same passion will always be there. I can assure you I am not taking a “one and done” approach.” Chamblin insisted. “I still think there are a lot of things left on the table that we have not accomplished. I’m excited to be the head coach of one of the best professional organizations in North America.”
His extension also drew the approval of Darian Durant. The Riders quarterback used his Twitter account to say “Congrats to Coach C, well deserved”
With today’s announcement, it means if all goes well Chamblin will be the man to usher the football team out of Mosaic Stadium and into the new facility that will soon be built at Evraz Place. He has four years to do what Eagle Keys, John Gregory, and Kent Austin could not do and that is bring a second Grey Cup to the prairies. If he can accomplish that, his long-standing joke of having a statue erected outside the stadium may very well become fact.
