Toronto Argonauts receiver DaVaris Daniels is known for his sure hands.
He even went so far as to provide a hand to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who are to face the Argonauts at Mosaic Stadium on Thursday (7 p.m., TSN, CKRM).
“He’s the reason I took this job,” said DaVaris’s father, Phillip Daniels, who is the Roughriders’ Defensive Line Coach.
“He told me I would love it.”
Coach Daniels talked to his 31-year-old son after an opportunity materialized in Saskatchewan.
Corey Mace, who extended the offer after being named the Roughriders’ Head Coach on Nov. 30, was an assistant coach when DaVaris Daniels was with the Calgary Stampeders (2016 to 2018) and the Argonauts (2022 and 2023).
“I was telling (DaVaris) that Mace called me and offered me the job and he said, ‘Dad, take it,’ ” said Phillip Daniels, whose son raved about the Roughriders’ organization and the facilities at Mosaic Stadium.
Sound advice, heeded and appreciated.
Now a father-son game looms.
“I’ve usually been on the same sideline with (DaVaris),” Daniels noted. “It’s going to be a little different being on opposite sides, but we’ve been talking back and forth. We do a little trash-talk here and there.
“I told him, ‘It’s football. We’ve just got to go play.’ It’s going to be fun.”
Daniels coached his son in the minor and high school football ranks. When DaVaris played for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, a proud dad was routinely in the stands.
Their first association in the pro football ranks dates back to 2022, which proved to be a championship season for Argonauts.
“I was on the sidelines with him in Toronto,” Daniels recalled. “I was the motivational speaker two years ago when they won the Grey Cup.
“I just gave them what they needed to get going. We made a four-game commitment during that speech. I said, ‘We’re going to win all four of these, create some separation, and go from there.’ After I did that one speech, they won the first four games.
“I think they lost the next one, so I had to come back and I spoke again.”
Cue a three-game winning streak.
The formula being a sure-fire winner, Phillip subsequently spoke to the Argonauts during the 2022 East Division playoffs and before the 109th Grey Cup Game, in which Toronto edged the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24-23 at Mosaic Stadium.
The victorious Head Coach, Ryan Dinwiddie, was on Calgary’s staff when Mace and DaVaris Daniels were with the Stampeders.
When DaVaris was a second-year member Stampeder, his father was the Philadelphia Eagles’ Assistant Defensive Line Coach. He shared in a Super Bowl victory when Philadelphia defeated the New England Patriots 41-33 on Feb. 4, 2018.
“After we won the Super Bowl, (the Stampeders) invited me to talk to the team,” Daniels recalled.
“When I went up to Toronto to visit (in 2022), I saw Corey and he asked me to hang around. Then Dinwiddie came over to me and said, ‘I remember you talking in Calgary and you did such a good job. Why don’t you speak to our team?’ ”
His list of accomplishments speaks volumes.
Daniels’ 15-year playing career as an NFL defensive end included stops in Seattle (1996 to 1999), Chicago (2000 to 2003) and Washington (2004 to 2010).
He was the Director of Player Development in Washington (2012) and later spent four seasons (2016 to 2019) on the Eagles’ coaching staff.
That impressive resume, which includes a formal CFL affiliation for the first time, provides instant credibility when he addresses the players.
“I speak from the top of my head,” he said. “I speak about what I know they need. I don’t have anything written down.”
Except for the initials G.C.
“My mom passed away from COVID in 2020,” said Georgia Collier’s 51-year-old son — a graduate of the University of Georgia, fittingly enough.
“I always mention her. She lives through me. Everything I say comes from her. I think she gives me everything I need to say through the Lord.
“On game day, I put her initials on my tape. When times get tough, I either kiss it or hold it, and it seems like things turn around instantly.
“I just feel like she gives me what I need to say in those speeches. I played 15 years and I kind of know what to say to them and what they need and that helps me, too.”
What is the essence of his message?
“I tell the guys how to take care of their bodies and the things they’ve got to do to make sure they stay around a long time,” said Daniels, a proponent of power lifting.
“The Number 1 thing is if your coaches trust you, you’ve going to be around a long time, so you can’t have mental errors and stuff like that.
“You’ve got to come in every day and grasp what we’re doing. If you can eliminate those mistakes, you can be around.”
Another key factor: A green colour scheme.
“Let me tell you the story,” Daniels said with a laugh. “High school colours: Green and white. Philly: Green and white … won a Super Bowl.
“There’s also my youngest son’s high school team. They had never won a playoff game.”
They are the Eagles, appropriately enough, of Bishop Shanahan High School in Downington, Pa.
Before enrolling at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2022, DaKendrick Daniels earned all-state honours as a defensive end and linebacker with the Bishop Shanahan Eagles.
“I became a volunteer coach for them and changed the front seven,” Phillip Daniels said. “They went to the final four.
“Green’s been good to me. I told Mace, ‘Every time I put on green, good things happen.’ Hopefully it’s the same thing here as with all the other green teams I’ve been on.”
There is the accompanying hope that, one day, the firm of Daniels and Daniels will be under one roof in a gridiron context.
“I would look forward to the day when he’s on a team with me again and playing with me,” Phillip Daniels said. “We’ll see what happens. He’s the reason I’m here, so I want to make the most of it and do my thing.”
“I came here to help these guys win. In Philly, I told those guys, ‘That’s the reason I got into coaching — because I want to see guys succeed and win championships. I want you to have something to show your kids and your grandkids down the road.’
“That’s the reason I coach. We’ve got to go and try to get this Grey Cup and help these guys out.”
