The coaching career of Drew Tate will take him to a familiar place from his playing days.
Earlier this week, the Saskatchewan Roughriders hired the former quarterback to become the team’s new receivers coach.
He joined Michael Ball on the SportsCage on Wednesday to discuss the move.
Tate is entering his sixth season as a coach, following a CFL playing career that began and ended with two stints as a member of the Roughriders. (2007,2018).
He feels that he’s always been a competitor and believes the job in Saskatchewan will allow him to grow professionally.
“The opportunity to come back there and shock the league I believe. I mean, the opportunity is there. ”
Following his last appearance with Saskatchewan in 2018, the former Iowa Hawkeye transitioned into a coaching career. After a stop with Coastal Carolina, the two-time Grey Cup Champion returned to the Canadian Football League in 2019 with the BC Lions as their quarterbacks coach. He spent one season there before moving back south of the border for a pair of coaching stops with his most recent stop at Northern Iowa, where he was the tight ends coach.
There will be a lot of familiar faces for Tate when he arrives in Saskatchewan. Riders General Manager Jeremy O’Day was a teammate of Tate during his first stint with the Roughriders. The former quarterback said his relationship with O’Day dates back to his earliest days in green and white.
“I took my first professional snap from Jeremy O’Day in 2007. ” said the Bayton, Texas product.
Craig Dickenson’s relationship with Tate dates back to their time with the Calgary Stampeders in 2009 when Dickenson was the Stampeders special teams coach.
The former quarterback has already started working on the relationship with offensive coordinator Kelly Jeffrey, and the new Riders receivers coach believes they are already on the same page.
“To me it’s all about how do you see the field, how do you see your personnel, and how do you use the personnel.”
Tate believes his coaching philosophy is based on just finding a way to win.
“There are really two things you’re doing everyday when you’re go to work, you’re either getting better or you’re not. There is no such thing as staying the same cause if you’re staying the same, you’re not getting better.”
Like many players who come to the CFL to springboard their careers, Tate hopes the same can happen on his coaching path. He said that he aspires to move up and assume roles like an offensive coordinator or a head coach someday and believes becoming the receivers coach for the Riders could lead him to that opportunity someday.
The 38-year-old replaces Travis Moore as the Riders receivers coach. Moore has since moved to the Ottawa REDBLACKS where he will serve as receivers coach and passing game coordinator.
