Trevor Harris: “Our fan base is the best in the league, so we need our product to match our fan base”

Trevor Harris, invariably a fountain of perspective, provided context with a text. 

The events of Grey Cup Week, which culminated with the Montreal Alouettes posting a 28-24 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sunday, prompted the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ quarterback to reach for his phone and transmit an emphatic message. 

“I went online, saw the hoopla, and it just (peeved) me off,” Harris told Riderville.com. “I said, ‘You know what? Three-hundred-and-sixty-five days from now, we’re going to be preparing to play in the Grey Cup in Vancouver, and I want to let some of my teammates know to start envisioning that now.’ ” 

How would he describe the response? 

“Very, very positive,” Harris replied. “Obviously, we don’t know who’s going to be back. We don’t know what the team’s going to look like next year. Anything is possible at this point, but I wanted to text some of the guys and let them know (how uncomfortably Grey Cup week was resonating). 

“I just told them how I felt and there was pretty much a mutual feeling of, ‘I watched it, too. It put a pit in my stomach,’ and that’s good. It should hurt. 

“The thing that really hurts the most is seeing the best fan base in the league not be able to wear their Saskatchewan Roughrider gear with pride and not be able to say the things that they want to say to people in terms of the success of our team.” 

With that in mind, Harris had plenty to say — to his teammates and while being interviewed for this story. 

“Our fan base is the best in the league, so we need our product to match our fan base,” Harris stated. 

“That’s really where my mindset is right now — making sure that we have that urgency. We just went 6-and-12 and, the year before, they went 6-and-12. That’s not good enough.  

“If you don’t have urgency right now, then what the heck are you doing and what are we doing? If you don’t have the urgency and the mindset to go out and really destroy competition next year, then what is wrong with you?” 

Another priority for Harris is to simply destroy — in a good way — a series of intensive workouts as he continues to recuperate ahead of schedule from a season-ending knee injury he sustained on July 15 against the visiting Calgary Stampeders. 

“I’m not just looking to come back and just be OK enough to play,” he said. “I’m looking to come back and be in a dominant form.  

“I think that’s the message that all of us need to galvanize within each other. We’re all in this together. It’s the old adage of, ‘You can tear one piece of paper, but if you put 100 pieces of paper together, it sure is a lot harder to tear.’ 

“I think that if we can stand together, we’re going to be able to withstand any storm and we’re going to be able to go out there just dominate our competition.  

“It’s not just about getting to the point where we’re good enough. I want us to get to another level.” 

Hence the compulsion to speak out — not for the purpose of drawing attention to himself, but instead to convey a larger, powerful message. 

“First and foremost for me, it’s always about giving glory and honour to Jesus Christ, but obviously you want to put your best self on the field to glorify Him,” Harris said.  

“You also want your teammates to succeed. You want the fans walking around with pride with the things that they’re wearing and to be able to sport that green and white with pride. That’s something that means a lot to me.  

“That’s why I want to get that right out there to the guys to get this thing started for next year.  

“Obviously, it’s not a good thing that we’ve got a three-week head start but, if we’ve wasted that time by not putting in the work, then we’ve already started to fail.” 

The Roughriders are already nicely into the process that will lead to the hiring of a new Head Coach. 

“I think it’s a massive decision,” Harris said. “I’m just hoping to see a person who comes in there who is a leader of men. 

“Having the position of head coach, quarterback and general manager in Regina is very different than any other place in the league, because the lights can get really bright. 

“Shoot, maybe it was just a change of scenery that Cody (Fajardo) needed. Who knows, but he was able to succeed (by quarterbacking Montreal to a championship in 2023).  

“I know that the next head coach needs to be able to not be hindered by the bright lights. As long as they do that and hire the right type of guy who can galvanize the team, I think that’s the big thing that you need.” 

Again, it goes back to the perspective that Harris has gained and exuded during an accomplished Canadian Football League career that dates back to 2012. 

As a first-year member of the Toronto Argonauts, he was part of a team that rebounded from a 6-12 season by winning a Grey Cup. 

In 2016, he joined the Ottawa REDBLACKS, who attained the pinnacle of success in just their third season of existence. 

“Ottawa was an expansion team that went 2-and-16 (in 2014),” Harris noted. “The following year, they’re in the Grey Cup. The following year, they won the Grey Cup.” 

Also in 2016, Toronto finished last in the East Division with a 6-12 slate — only to win a championship the following year. 

“I’ve been around this league for a long time and oftentimes there’s not a huge difference between a team that has a tough finish one year and wins the Grey Cup the following year,’ Harris said. “You see it all the time with teams that flip the script. 

“Three years ago, Montreal was the laughing stock of the league. Now they’re the Grey Cup champions.  

“Winnipeg was terrible for my first few years in the league. Now they’re the franchise model of the league. They have the quarterback and the right head coach in place. 

“To me, you build the personnel to really beat the teams that are at the top, and I feel like we’ve got the right people in place right now. We’ve just got a couple of voids to fill, including the Head Coach. Once we get that, I think we can be off and running.”