Jason Maas (left) is officially the Roughriders new offensive coordinator. Photo by Ryan McNally.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have a new offensive coordinator.
Former Edmonton Eskimos coach Jason Maas, was officially named the Riders new offensive coordinator Friday morning during a news conference at Mosaic Stadium.
Maas, who has been signed for two years, replaces Stephen McAdoo, who’s contract expired with the green and white at the end of the 2019 season.
We have added Jason Maas as offensive coordinator through 2021.
» https://t.co/XuJV4ol6b7 pic.twitter.com/BXJVE0vGhm
— Saskatchewan Roughriders (@sskroughriders) December 6, 2019
The 44-year-old Maas has never worked with coach Craig Dickenson before. Maas was let go by the Eskimos after an 8-10 season that saw them defeat Montreal in the eastern semi final, before losing to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the eastern final as the cross-over team.
Maas said after some talks with coach Craig Dickenson is soon became apparent Saskatchewan was his best option.
“As the talks progressed with Craig, I started to lean heavily towards here for the opportunity to be a part of an organization that from afar, you really respect and understand it’s a special place,” Maas said. “That’s basically where it came to, I started talking to my family and started to see what was best for us.”
Maas said he looks forward to working with the players and coaches the organization currently has.
“(I’m) just really excited to be a part of Rider nation,” Maas said. “You hear about it, and I think everyone knows about it, but I think it’s one of those things, it’s a bucket-list thing I think if you’re a CFL guy that you want an opportunity to coach here one day.”
Head Coach Craig Dickenson said he wanted to reach out as soon as possible to try and sign Maas.
“I got to be honest with you, when we first reached out, I didn’t think we’d have a shot to be honest, I thought he had enough options and a few things going on, but I put it out there,” Maas said. “When he came and visited, he said to me — and I thought this really rang true and was really important — he said ‘when you come to Saskatchewan, you see this facility, you’re around these people, you want to do well because you don’t want to disappoint these people.’”
The Riders also announced a two year extension for defensive coordinator Jason Shivers.
We have extended defensive coordinator, Jason Shivers through 2021.
» https://t.co/dnNoBsBBrw pic.twitter.com/OUWxQKjgto
— Saskatchewan Roughriders (@sskroughriders) December 6, 2019
Shivers took over as defensive coordinator before the start of the 2019 season, serving as the team’s defensive backs coach before that.
{Files from Ryan McNally}
