Green with Envy: Riders see in Stamps what they hope to one day be

The Saskatchewan Roughriders got a good hard look at what they want to be when they grow up.

When Riders President and CEO Craig Reynolds started his search for new management and coaches following the debacle of a 3-15 season, the phrase of the day was ‘sustained success’.

It doesn’t get much more sustained than what Calgary has seen: eight straight 10-plus win seasons, two Grey Cup Championships, three West Division championships.

And judging by the Riders’ first third of the season, it’s going to a long haul to get to that type of consistent winning.

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The difference in talent is noticeable. The defensive line can rush three in Calgary and get to Darian Durant; the secondary is all over receivers, knocking down balls and limiting yards after catch. The Riders, meanwhile, were again playing chase and their three man rush just gave Bo Levi Mitchell more time to find open receivers down field.

On the offensive side of the ball, a Stampeders’ offensive line that’s faced continuous change over doesn’t seem phased, allowing zero sacks on Thursday and a league-low eight all season. Eric Rogers to the NFL? No problem, they find Bakari Grant or Joe West or Greg Wilson to fill the void.

It’s been incredible to watch the machine that John Hufnagel has built in Calgary. And it’s truly a machine — the parts sometimes need replacing but they are interchangeable and continue to pump out the same product: a winner.

Chris Jones and his right hand man John Murphy have seen it up close and are trying to emulate that in Saskatchewan. Jones, a defensive coordinator in Calgary from 2008-2011 and Murphy, who has been sitting next to Hufnagel for most of their incredible eight-year dynasty.

Over the off-season they first built a roster of scouts to look in every crevice in football to find players. They scouted thousands, and they continue to bring in player after player in-season for workouts to see if they could be the next guy.

What Jones and Murphy are doing is creating the rolodex of talent to be able to build a roster like the one John Hufnagel has built and not only the 44 that play on game day but the other 12 on the practice roster and others who are committed to coming in in a pinch to help out where necessary.

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But there is an intangible Calgary has. It’s the ‘Stampeders Way’, I guess, and it’s an identity. There is a quality about the Stampeders that every player must meet when they walk into the locker room or put on the red, white and black.

An identity is lacking in Saskatchewan. Who are they? What kind of team are they? Jones has often bragged how athletic his team is but is always quick to say he’s excited to see how they match up against a consistent contender like Calgary or last week it was a physical team like Montreal.

Well, for back to back weeks, they haven’t matched up too well.

Until the Riders get that identity, it’s going to be a struggle. We’ve seen flashes this season of a quick, athletic team, that will out-run you and try to wear you down with speed.

But, then come the mental errors, the missed assignments, the turnovers and the losses.

Heck, Chris Jones may not even have the talent built up yet to where it needs to be to find sustained success.

He doesn’t need to look far to find out what’s lacking in the beginning of his rebuild. All he has to do is turn on the film and look at the guys in red, or easier yet, just look across the field when these two teams meet again next Saturday.

A Rider upset in the rematch would be a big step for the team to establish an identity.