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While Saskatchewan Roughriders fans have been enjoying the product on the field, general manager Jeremy O’Day has been working hard behind the scenes.
In his first season as a full-time general manager, O’Day has made key moves throughout the CFL season that have allowed the Green and White to win 13 games — the team’s highest total since 1970 — and earn hosting privileges for the West Division final for the first time since 2009.
Before taking a management role, O’Day played 14 seasons in the CFL — two with the Toronto Argonauts and 12 with the Roughriders. He won a Grey Cup with Saskatchewan in 2007.
In the years after he retired in 2011, he was the Roughriders’ assistant general manager and vice-president of football operations, and also served as interim general manager in 2015.
In January, O’Day was chosen to take over the GM role after Chris Jones left to join the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.
“I wanted to be a GM for a long time but the part that was definitely overwhelming was just everyone that reaches out just to congratulate you and say nice words; that’s kind of humbling,” O’Day told the Green Zone on Thursday. “The work part and the prep part and coming up with the plan moving forward, it all seemed fairly natural.”
O’Day attributed his preparation for the role to the people he worked with over the years, including Brendan Taman and Jones.
One of the first things O’Day needed to do after being hired — and he needed to do it quickly with free agency under a month away — was hire a head coach.
O’Day picked then-special teams co-ordinator Craig Dickenson. The decision paid off; Dickenson was named the West Division nominee for the CFL’s coach-of-the-year award.
Dickenson’s “team above self” mantra resonated in the locker room, with many of the players buying into the culture implemented by O’Day and Dickenson.
“Early on in the process, we determined we were both on the same page in what we wanted to do (culture-wise). The most difficult part of that is echoing that to the players,” O’Day said.
“It’s not something that you just walk into the room and say, ‘We’re changing the culture a little bit or changing our philosophy.’ You have to go in and have that constant message and really build that environment and count on the players to play a huge part in determining that.
“We asked them to let us earn their respect and to trust us. We let them know that we believed in them and they’ve shown it back to us. That’s the kind of environment that we wanted to create.”
Along with Dickenson, O’Day also found key contributors in free agency.
O’Day signed linebacker Solomon Elimimian (who led the team with 88 tackles in the regular season), defensive lineman Micah Johnson (four sacks), defensive back LJ McCray (three interceptions) and running back William Powell (1,093 rushing yards and 12 total touchdowns).
The GM also signed a career backup quarterback named Cody Fajardo to play behind then-starter Zach Collaros.
As Roughriders fans saw in 2019, Fajardo got an opportunity and didn’t look back after Collaros suffered a concussion against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on June 13.
O’Day said he could see Fajardo as a starter in the league when they signed him, noting he’s one of two quarterbacks to throw for at least 9,000 yards and run for at least 3,000 in his NCAA career.
“You’re not really looking for just the one thing, it’s more of a combination of everything. I just thought (Fajardo’s) game fit the CFL,” O’Day said. “I also looked at his past performance in the short sample size that we saw in the years building up before he came here.
“You’re always looking for that guy who’s a young up-and-comer and someone who needs just a bigger opportunity to shine a little bit.”
O’Day said there are some similarities between Fajardo and former Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant.
“They’re not just (a runner or a passer), they can do both. Both of them have success when they do run the ball a little bit early or they have a certain amount of yards rushing in a game,” O’Day said. “Those guys are both very good leaders on the field.”
With the emergence of Fajardo, O’Day also made the choice to trade Collaros to Toronto on July 31 for a conditional fourth-round selection in the 2020 draft. Collaros has since been traded to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“It’s not easy to make (that decision). I think you’re at that point where you’re determining whether you think Zach’s going to play or not (or) whether you feel he should play or not,” O’Day said. “All of those things kind of weigh on your mind in that time.”
O’Day also signed Fajardo to a two-year contract extension on Oct. 22.
The Roughriders are enjoying a bye week before hosting the West final but all eyes are on the health of Fajardo. He’s currently dealing with an oblique injury.
“It’s one of those weird injuries. You don’t have many of them but you rely on the trainers and the doctors,” O’Day said. “We have a great medical staff and a great crew of doctors that know how to handle all our injuries that we have and just kind of trust them going through it.”
O’Day will get to see the team he helped put together on Nov. 17 when it hosts the West final against either the Bombers or Calgary Stampeders. He also hopes to see the Roughriders do something they haven’t done since 2013: Appear in a Grey Cup game.