Rod Pedersen
CFL.ca
It’s Miller Time.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders got back to work following the bye week with a Sunday practice at Mosaic Stadium and a new head coach at the helm.
Exactly 11 days after the firings of head coach Greg Marshall and offensive coordinator Doug Berry, V.P. of Football Operations Ken Miller was directing the troops as the man now in charge of both roles.
Quarterback Darian Durant was vocal in his support of Miller following Marshall’s dismissal and played with a spring in his step on Sunday.
“It was a pretty good day,” said Durant.
“I’m glad and it’s good to see Coach back out there. You can tell he’s been itching to get back out there. He’s having fun and the team’s having fun. It’s a new beginning so to speak.”
Yes, it’s a new beginning, but the situation hasn’t changed for the 1-7 Roughriders. Sitting at the bottom of the CFL standings, Part 2 of the Miller Era will begin with the first of two consecutive meetings against the league-best Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“We recognize what we have to do, there have been changes made but the game doesn’t change. We still have to execute, make plays and get wins by any means necessary,” Durant admitted.
“That’s our goal. Guys are excited to be back and we’re just ready to get back to work.”
Under Marshall, it was difficult to pin-point the reason for the team’s struggles.
Was it too difficult to adjust to a new coach? Or had the team’s talent pool dwindled to the point that we were foolish to expect any more than their record displayed?
We can all agree that the team’s effort was sub-par in the majority of its games, however, many feel Miller’s return to the sidelines will give the squad the shot-in-the-arm it needs as they approach the remaining 10 games.
“You notice I’m smiling right now,” said veteran DB Lance Frazier.
“It’s a different vibe right now. Coach Miller is like your grandfather and we call him grandpa. It’s just that fatherly touch, the looseness about him and his sense of humour. He gave a wonderful speech before the practice about what the Riders mean. You can feel the looseness in the locker room and there’s a momentum swing already. He said the past is in the past and it’s time to look forward.”
With the firings, Miller has taken on a monstrous amount of pressure to turn things around. However, the onus is just as much onus on the players.
Day-by-day, Miller will try to motivate and guide this club to a third-straight Grey Cup appearance.
“First of all to establish direction from this point forward,” Miller said of his immediate task.
“We’re not accustomed to being in the position we’re in. Just to take some steps to lay some groundwork for taking the first step today and looking forward to tomorrow.”
And just how will it all turn out? Well, tune in on Sunday afternoon to find out.
