Mitchell Blair
Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Corey Chamblin may not know who his team’s replacement for Kory Sheets or Weston Dressler is right now, but he knows he doesn’t have to search for a new starting quarterback for a few more years.
Darian Durant signed a contract extension Wednesday afternoon meaning he will aim to give the green-and-white a couple of more shots at celebrating a Grey Cup title at Mosaic Stadium before they move a couple of Chris Milo kickoffs down the road to their new facility at Evraz Place in 2017.
“A lot of guys don’t get the opportunity to stay with one franchise their whole career,” Durant said. “It was basically a no-brainer for me to stay a part of this organization. It’s the best in the league starting from Roger Brandvold right down to the players. We have the best front office, we have the best coaches and we have the best players so it really was a no-brainer.”
“It’s a great day in Riderville”, gushed general manager Brendan Taman. “Darian is a very big piece as to what we do here in the organization. He and his agent (Dan Vertlieb) made it clear right from the beginning this was not about himself, but the team and keeping it together. That tells you a lot about Darian. He has become an elite quarterback in this league and its time he was paid like one. When you look at the last five Grey Cups, there is one quarterback that has been to three of them and he is sitting just a couple of feet away. That should tell you a lot about him right there.”
Chamblin is ecstatic to move forward with Durant as well. He says the key was the positive relationship the two share.
“Trust is the biggest thing,” Chamblin said. “Does he trust me as a head coach, does he trust the decisions I make not just for himself, but for the team, the relationship is growing and its getting better. We have one championship under our belt and as our relationship moves on, we will see what we can do to get more championships.”
Chamblin adds this makes the job of trying to repeat the success he had last year just a little bit easier.
“Having a leader like Darian Durant makes the vision I have for this football team as we go forward.” Chamblin said. “I can’t wait to see him grow from the good quarterback that he is now to a great quarterback and I truly think we will see him grow more. What we saw last year may just have been the tip of the iceberg.
2013 was not only the year the 31-year-old Durant took the Riders to their 4th Grey Cup championship in franchise history as they beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23 at Mosaic Stadium with Durant throwing for 245 yards and three touchdowns. It capped off a season that saw the 31 year old throw for 4154 yards and a league high 31 touchdowns while tossing just 12 interceptions. He followed that up by throwing for 550 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions in playoff victories over the Lions and Stampeders.
As Durant solidifies his role as starting quarterback, he says the goal he has is crystal clear.
‘We have won four Grey Cups with four different quarterbacks winning those titles. No one here has ever won two and I hope to change that,” Durant said with a smile. That’s my motivating factor. To separate yourself from those that have won one is to get another ring and that’s what I hope to do.”
He will start the quest to get that second ring in about six weeks when the team starts its quest to repeat as CFL champs when they head to Saskatoon for training camp.
