Mitchell Blair
Craig Reynolds has gone from being 0-6 as the high school quarterback of his hometown football team in Foam Lake to having one of the most prestigious jobs in Saskatchewan.
On Tuesday afternoon, the football club promoted the team’s Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice-President by making him the organization’s new president and CEO effective March 1 when Jim Hopson will step down from the position created in 2005.
“Growing up in small-town Saskatchewan, you dream of standing in front of this backdrop. In that dream, you are naturally playing for the Riders, but that requires more talent than I was granted,” Reynolds joked. “To be given this incredible opportunity to lead this iconic franchise into the future is certainly a dream come true and I am looking forward to what the next few years will bring.”
Reynolds came to the team in 2003 when Hopson recruited him from Suncor Energy in Alberta where he was working as Senior Manager of the Oil Sands Cost Management Program. In the six years he has been a part of the senior executive. Reynolds has had many roles including being responsible for the Riders’ strategic planning, budgeting, financial reporting, treasury, human resource and stadium operations functions.
In 2013, Reynolds was a member of the Grey Cup executive committee and also chaired the operations committee. He was also a key player in the Grey Cup Legacy Project, which led to the expansion of the existing Mosaic Stadium.
Hopson will be the first to admit that when he brought Reynolds on board six years ago, he never thought Reynolds would be the guy replacing him.
“Six years ago, I wouldn’t have said that he’s the next CEO, but I saw a young man who was extremely bright, who had a great set of skills,” Hopson told reporters shortly after the announcement had been made. “He had worked in Europe. He had worked in Alberta. I just felt he would bring that kind of energy and enthusiasm that we needed in the financial side, and every time we gave him a challenge, he stepped up to it. Whether it was the Grey Cup Legacy Project or the Grey Cup, he just responded. The more you gave him, the more he did, and he’s a great guy. You can see that. He’s a super family guy. He loves the Riders passionately. I feel very good about where he is.”
Reynolds admits he just about let the opportunity slide by as he was one of the last people to throw his resume into the pile. He said having a chance to apply for such a job was a no-brainer on the business side, but there were obstacles he knew had to overcome if he were to submit that application.
“It wasn’t a no-brainer on the family side,” Reynolds stated. “I really thought I could do the job from a business perspective and I was very interested in that from a business perspective, but there were family considerations. I take those very seriously. My family’s very important to me, obviously, so I had to work through that.”
As he prepares to take over one of the most scrutinized jobs in Saskatchewan, the 39-year-old is more than prepared to meet the challenge that awaits him. He says the team may be doing well right now with no signs of it slowing down, but at no time can the organization start being apathetic about what they are doing.
“The attitude in this organization that’s been here for the last few years is to continually improve.” Reynolds said. “We want to get better. We want to continue to interact with our fans in new and innovative ways, and the new stadium’s going to provide us with tremendous opportunities from a marketing perspective, too.’’ I think if you’re not trying to get better, you’re getting worse. We’re going to try to get better and we’re going to continue to try to improve this organization, and that’s in all aspects. That’s on the football side. That’s on the business side. That’s in retail. That’s in the ticket office. That’s in all aspects of the business. That’s embedded in our culture — continuous improvement — and it will be under my watch as well.”
Board of directors chair Wayne Morsky as one of many beaming as Reynolds’ hiring was announced. He says there are a lot of things that made him stand out from those who applied.
“His skills with what he has done with the major projects he has been involved with along with the fact he has worked for six years with Jim helped and were big factors, but to me he has done such a great job at the board level providing a lot of leadership. In the role he had as Chief Financial Officer, he did a lot of work behind the scenes and now I think you will see some of that work.”
Morsky adds his age is also a plus.
“The fact he comes from the age group which is our major demographic to fill the seats was huge. He has a young family and we have to find out how to keep young families engaged with the organization and the league. I think Craig will be a great addition for us and for the league. If he can share some of his ideas with the league and find ways of getting young people from their big flat screen TV’s and their man-caves and into seats. I think that is where you will see his leadership really stand out.”
As he prepares to take over the job, Hopson says he only leaves Reynolds with one piece of advice.
“Remember that the highs are really high and the lows are very low, and you will take criticism. That’s one thing that he’ll have to understand. The Riders are a publicly owned team and there’s great passion, so don’t be surprised when you get the first hate mail.” Hopson said. “That goes with the job and you’ve got to understand that, and understand that that comes from people caring so much. Never start building fences around yourself, either, when you start getting some of that negative feedback. It goes with the territory. Every decision I’ve made over the last 10 years has not always worked out. You’ve got to accept that and what you’ve got to do then is make sure you get it right the next time. I think he understands that. “
Reynolds will not take over immediately. He will have two months to pick Hopson’s brain on other items as Hopson will not leave his position and step into the world of retirement until March 1. Reynolds says it will be a two month period he will embrace as he gets ready to keep the Riders on the path Hopson constructed which is maintaining the Riders as the most envied organization in not just the CFL, but Canadian sport as a whole.
