Marc Mueller plans to finish training camp before it begins.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ second-year offensive co-ordinator has spent many an hour in front of his computer, completing all the teaching elements that will be used when workouts open in slightly less than three weeks.
Rookie camp is to run from May 7 to 9 at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon, where main camp is to commence on May 11. For all those dates, and several to follow, Mueller has precisely plotted out the plan for installing the offence and displaying the concepts to veterans and rookies alike.
Even with exhaustive preparation, days at Coors Light Training Camp will be long and hectic. But getting on top of anything that can be done now will allow the coaches and players to maximize their time together on the field and in the meeting rooms.
“I’m looking forward to seeing everybody again,” Mueller said on Wednesday at Mosaic Stadium.
“Last year we had a really good group of guys who I got to work with every day. I really enjoyed those guys and it’s great to have a big part of that nucleus back.
“No matter what was going on with the season — with the ebbs and flows and peaks and valleys — those guys made it fun to come to work.
“I’m excited to work with those guys again.”
And soon!
Another Saskatchewan winter has come and gone … knock on wood.
“The off-season seems long at times, but it goes really fast — just like the season,” the Regina-born Mueller noted.
“Those last couple of weeks before camp, there’s a lot of work to be done. I just can’t wait to get in that car and drive to Saskatoon for training camp.”
A CFL assistant coach since 2014, Mueller is preparing for his second training camp as part of a Corey Mace-led staff. Some of the logistical issues that unavoidably required attention year ago at this time are no longer on the agenda.
“You come here (for the first year) and you’re trying to make sure that you can function for practice properly or the way you’re used to,” Mueller recalled. “You’re getting stuff on the system and the server, with the drawings and stuff like that.
“Now, with most of the staff being back and comfortable with the offence, all that stuff is done. It’s there. It’s easier to recall, whether that’s mentally or on the computer or on the film.
“You can focus on other stuff instead of, ‘Let’s make sure we have the bones of this for camp and for the teaching.’
“Now we can kind of say, ‘Hey, we got that. We built on that.’ We’ll start there again, but it’ll just go at a much faster pace.”
It helps, too, that all five quarterbacks are familiar with the system.
Returning starter Trevor Harris is joined by fellow incumbent Jack Coan. Michael Hiers is also back in the picture after spending some time on the practice roster last fall.
Jake Maier and Tommy Stevens are both ticketed to arrive in Saskatoon after beginning their CFL careers with the Calgary Stampeders. Mueller spent nearly a decade on the Stampeders’ coaching staff before moving to Saskatchewan.
“It’s great from the top down, because all five guys have been in the system for some time,” Mueller noted.
“Trevor obviously played in it at a high level last year. Jake and Tommy were in a version of it in Calgary when I was there. Jack was here for the whole year (in 2024) and he was here as much as Trevor. Michael was also here for a couple of weeks.
“It’s not foreign, which is really nice. We already know how the call the plays. We already know how to be in and out of the huddle. We already know the stuff that you don’t want to be thinking about, ever.
“We’re already at that stage, which is nice — especially at the hardest position.”
