The Saskatchewan Roughriders have four quarterbacks on the roster behind 112th Grey Cup MVP Trevor Harris and Jack Coan has been there the longest, which gives him an advantage in the backup QB competition that will take place in training camp.
“I don’t think it’s anyone’s job right now, but I think Jack has a leg up with being here. We’ve invested two years in Jack. When we looked at it, knowing that Jake [Maier] was going to move on, we had the conversation, ‘Do we feel like we’ve got the guy in the building already?’ The answer to that was yes. It’s up to Jack to go out and perform,” general manager Jeremy O’Day said.
“It’s between all four of the guys we have, to be honest — I think that’s what it should be. Jack has been here longer than the other guys. Tommy [Stevens] has experience in our system for a number of years. That’s really going to be up to Marc [Mueller] and coach [Corey Mace] how that shakes down. We’re trying to bring in good players that will have a future in our league. Hopefully there’s a good competition in training camp.”
The 27-year-old Coan signed with the Riders in March 2024. He’s since completed 12-of-29 pass attempts for 138 yards with one touchdown across for 23 regular-season CFL games.
The six-foot-three, 218-pound passer signed a one-year contract extension with Saskatchewan in January. With Harris being year-to-year, the Roughriders know it’s time to prepare for life after he retires and find an heir apparent at the most important position in football.
“We haven’t had a conversation and said, ‘Trevor, is this your last year?’ We haven’t had a conversation saying that this is probably Trevor’s last year. It’s strictly based off how the season goes, how he feels, and how we feel. Certainly not something that we would discuss before the season, we haven’t even taken a snap in 2026,” O’Day said.
“Our plan is to go to camp with the guys that we have. We haven’t communicated with anyone outside the organization as far as any veteran-type players at this point. That’s our plan. We got to start preparing for life after Trevor [Harris] and that will be determined as time goes. Hopefully he plays great. We’ll see where it goes, but as far as the backup — that’s going to be wide open.”
The 39-year-old Harris, who will turn 40 on May 31, missed one game due to a head injury in 2025. He was able to stay healthy despite his advanced football age after missing 13 and six games in 2023 and 2024, respectively. O’Day has been a football executive since 2011 and knows his team has to be ready for any scenario regarding possible injuries to a franchise quarterback.
“If you look back at our history, even back in the days when Darian [Durant] was our quarterback, your starting quarterback gets injured, you want to be in position that you have a guy that can step in, play, and win games for you. You don’t really know when it’s going to be the players’ last game. Trevor’s not 30 years old where you feel comfortable knowing that he’s going to be your quarterback for a long time,” O’Day said.
“It’s having comfort for that season knowing that we got a really good quarterback that understands what our team’s about and prepares like crazy to be successful. More so comfortable knowing he’s our quarterback, but I’ve been in a position where we’ve lost our starting quarterback three plays into the season for the year. Hopefully we keep him healthy and we can have the same conversation again next year.”
American quarterback Jordan McCloud was signed by the Green and White in January. The 26-year-old was productive in one season at James Madison University and his senior year at Texas State University.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers invited him to rookie mini-camp in 2025, but did not offer him a contract after it was over. The Bucs brought him back for a workout in July, however, the team decided against signing him at that time as well. Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders and Kansas City Chiefs had the six-foot, 210-pound QB in for a workout in August and December.
“A lot to like, he’s a guy that can do it with his arm and with his legs. Very successful in college. He actually came to one of our free agent camp workouts at the end of last year, so we could actually see him in person,” O’Day said.
“He’s bounced around with some workouts in the NFL over the last season. Evaluating him, success that he had down in college football, his ability to do multiple things, similar systems to what we play in the CFL he was in, and we’re excited about him.”
The Riders are “anxious” to see how McCloud performs at training camp in Saskatoon.
