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FLORIDA PLANS, PHOTOS AND POTSHOTS

From the outside it appears things have been dormant at Mosaic Stadium since November’s Grey Cup win for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

That changes this week when Canada’s Team stages its third annual Florida minicamp and just like last year, it’s at IMG Academy in Brandenton, FL.  For the first time ever, yours truly will be there broadcasting the SportsCage live Friday, Saturday and Monday.

Roughriders Assistant General Manager Jeremy O’Day was on the SportsCage with us Friday outlining details of the cap and says things are coming together nicely.

“They’re good,” O’Day reported.  “We’re winding down as far as getting everyone’s travel schedules set.  It’s not the easiest thing to try to get 50 or 60 players from all over the US and Canada down to one spot at a certain time.  There’s some logistics to it but we’ve done it in the past and it’s becoming easier every year.”

If you’ll recall last year’s camp featured mainly veteran players with only a handful of rookies and negotiation list players.  After the Grey Cup win, many of the Riders pinpointed the Bradenton camp as the place the crucial team bonding began.  This year it’s going to be almost all rookies.

Why the change?

“I think the biggest factor is last year we had a new offensive coordinator with George Cortez and we wanted him to come down and start implementing some of his offense,” O’Day explained.  “Last year it was more of maybe giving some of the playbook to the veteran guys and getting them used to the terminology.  This year we have the same group of coaches back and there’s not as much learning that needs to happen.

“We’re gonna have, I think, and this may not be the public’s consensus, but a good amount of our team from last year back so we’ll have a lot of continuity.  This will be more of an opportunity to bring guys in to compete in certain areas but also to compete in all areas.  In some positions we’ll have a true competition where the winner becomes the starter while in other positions we’re gonna have guys competing to unseat starters.  Competition’s always a good thing and it’s something football players understand and it’s part of the game.”

A pic from the 2013 minicamp

Roughrider staff has been raving about the IMG Academy ever since the club starting holding camps there so I’m very excited to see it for myself.  We’ll be broadcasting our shows on-site Friday and Saturday (4:00-6:30 pm).  To learn more about the compound you can visit their website at www.imgacademy.com.  The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will be staging a similar camp the week after the Riders leave.

“It’s a great facility and it’s only growing,” O’Day continued.  “What we like the most about it is it’s kind of an ‘All In One’ stop for us.  They’re able to house our guys, feed our guys, they tailor the field to our needs regarding the length and the width of the field, they have all the supplies like bags, ropes, cones and dummies.  We bring our own footballs obviously, but they have trainers available, taping supplies, Gatorade and watering stations.  Everything you would need for a training camp, they have.”

If and when a minicamp roster is made available, I’ll be sure to post it here.  In the meantime, you’ve likely only heard of two confirmed names.

“We’re gonna bring both of our quarterbacks down so Darian Durant and Tino Sunseri will be throwing,” O’Day said.  “Other than that, there probably won’t be many vets.  There may be some guys who are veterans to the CFL but are new to our team that will be there.  You’ll see when you get down there Rod.  But it’s mainly gonna be first year guys to our team and guys from our negotiation list.

“Like I said it’s a good opportunity to compare the guys we have signed with the guys who are on our negotiation list.  The idea is to bring your best cards into the poker game.  You want the guys with the most skills, that are coachable and take an understanding of our game, and also meet the character that we expect.”

O’Day, who turns 40 on August 31, wrapped up a 14-year Plaza of Honor-worthy career in 2010 as a two-time Grey Cup champion and immediately went into the Riders’ Football Operations department.  In the three years since, the Buffalo, NY product has quickly become one of the most-respected front office types in the CFL, if not all of pro football.

As the son of a career hockey scout, I was eager to get Jeremy’s perspective on what it takes to be a top-tier birddog.  Is it an innate ability or is it learned?  For instance former Roughrider GM Roy Shivers once said he could tell if a player could play within five seconds.  I believe that to be true in Roy’s case.  What about O’Day?

“I think it’s a lot like being good at a sport,” O’Day surmised.  “There’s different ways to skin a cat.  If you’ve been given a natural ability to play a sport, then you’re real lucky. There are other guys who have to work real hard to become good at it.  I think you have to have an eye for talent but when you evaluate a player you have think of how he’s going to fit on your team, not just in general of what type of player he is.”

“How is he going to fit into your team?  Is there a specific skillset? is there a specific size? And a lot of that has to do with talking to your coaches.  Do they want a big running back?  Do they want a small running back?  A fast one?  One who can pass protect?”

The Roughriders’ scouting staff is headed up primarily by GM Brendan Taman, head scout Craig Smith and O’Day but they also rely heavily on contacts across the continent.  The trio always splits up NFL training camps and preseason games so they can hit them all.

“It’s a lot different scouting a game as opposed to watching a game, I’ll tell you that,” O’Day chuckled.  “It’s funny because when you scout a game you end up not even realizing how the game went in general.  You can look at the scoreboard and see who won but you didn’t notice the ebbs and flows of the game because you’re staring at the players all the time.

“I think you do have to have a natural ability for an eye for talent but there is that work part of it where you have to put in your time, doing research on the little details of the players, and not just what you see on the field.  It’s all about what that guy’s done up to that point.”

So here we go.  With the celebrations of the 2013 Grey Cup triumph behind us, now’s the time to set our focus on the 2014 CFL campaign.  The Riders can’t wait.

“The neatest part of it for us is that we’re going to start looking at the team for 2014,” O’Day concluded.  “That’s our first look at the guys coming in and it’s an exciting time for us.  Craig Smith lives for these days and these camps where he can see the new guys.  We’re excited about it and hope the weather works out for us.”

The forecast for Day 1 of the minicamp on Saturday calls for sunshine and a steamy 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

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READER SUBMITTED PHOTOS AND POSTERS

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Check out these sports dinners around the province which include current and past Roughrider greats.  Please considering purchase tickets and helping them raise funds for community projects!!

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Toronto filmmaker Jarrett Rusnak, a Regina product and friend of the blog, has produced a video which includes scenes from the 2014 CFL Combine in Toronto.  Please check it out.  Here’s then note from Jarrett:


– Hi Rod,

Here is the link to the new video. Please post it in your blog. A mention in the MMG would be great too.

https://vimeo.com/90432442

The web drama series is called ‘Another One Comes’ and focuses on six 20-somethings living in Toronto – one of them being a scout for the Toronto Argonauts.

This episode focuses on two of those characters, Ian and Jude. It was shot during the CFL combine and features cameos from Rick Campbell, Jim Barker, and Patrick Donovan (Asst. Head Coach & DC with the Concordia Stingrays).

I’ve applied for funding from the Independent Production Fund. Among other things, the project is being evaluated on how many views I get. Please encourage your readers and listeners to check out the series’ website at www.anotheronecomes.com so I can make more episodes like this.

Thanks!
Jarrett


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