CHAMBLIN RETURNS TO RIDERVILLE
One of the interesting subplots going into Saturday’s Saskatchewan Roughriders-Toronto Argonauts CFL game at Mosaic Stadium in Regina is the return of former Rider Head Coach Corey Chamblin.
Chamblin served as the Riders coach from 2012 to 2015, winning a Grey Cup and being named CFL Coach of the Year in 2013. He was let go after an 0-9 start in 2015 however he’s resurfaced in a big way, serving as the Assistant Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Backs Coach of the first-place Argonauts on the Marc Trestman staff.
He deserves a warm welcome.
Chamblin became extremely popular within the Rider Nation – and still is – during his time here, and is excited for his first return to the Queen City. The Birmingham, Alabama product sat down with Argos podcaster Frank Stanisci for a chat prior to Saturday’s game.
Here are his comments:
ON HIS FIRST HEAD COACHING JOB IN FOOTBALL-MAD SASKATCHEWAN
“Very intense. It’s like no other. They have a great environment out there.”
ON WORKING UNDER MARC TRESTMAN
“He does a great job of setting the table. There’s some good food and good pieces here! It’s a unique situation. He’s an offensive head coach and he shares things with us from an offensive perspective which actually makes the defense stronger because we now understand what the offense is doing. I credit our success to that because of the lessons that he’s teaching us.”
ON HIS CONFIDENT, POSITIVE REPUTATION
“The first thing is, you mentioned I’m confident and positive and I pride myself in that but some people take that as arrogance. I’m confident in not only myself, but also the people around me. All things work together so that’s where that confidence comes from. I’m always looking to get better but I think I did some good things at a young age in Saskatchewan.
“Like anything else, there’s always room to learn and refine. It was a blessing to take that quick jump at a young age but sometimes there’s some lessons that you speed past. Now, to come back and settle back in as a coordinator with head coach experience, Grey Cup experience, and learning from guys like Richie Hall and Chris Jones, this allows me to be under an offensive head coach so it’s pretty good.”
ON THE DIFFERENCE OF BEING A HEAD COACH VERSUS AN ASSISTANT
“Driving the bus is so different from being a passenger. When you’re an assistant coach seeing a head coach do things, you think ‘I can do this’ or ‘I can do that’ but when you’re actually in that seat, it’s trial by fire and you learn from that. Now when you’re back in the passenger seat, there’s a lot more respect for the guy that’s ahead of you and the people that are around you. Our defense is having some success but that comes from the top down.”
ROD PEDERSEN SAYS HI
“Tell Rod I still love him. I used to give him heck when I was out there!”
*Kickoff on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium is 4:30 pm on TSN and the 620 CKRM Rider Radio Network.
RP
@rodpedersen
