Following the Saskatchewan Roughriders' triumphant Grey Cup victory, General Manager Jeremy O'Day has made it clear that retaining the team's core players is his top priority for the upcoming season.
Reflecting on a Championship Season
During his annual year-end media availability on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, O'Day took time to reflect on the organization's first Grey Cup championship since 2013. The Roughriders' Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager spoke from Mosaic Stadium in Regina, emphasizing the collective effort behind the team's success.
"I think it's easy to kind of focus on the end of it, but there's so much that goes into winning a championship and the amount of work from the players and the staff," said O'Day, who previously won Grey Cups with Saskatchewan in 2013 as assistant GM and in 2007 as a player.
The Path to Championship Glory
The Roughriders' journey to the championship began with significant organizational changes, including the hiring of head coach Corey Mace. After back-to-back seasons missing the playoffs, the team showed immediate improvement under Mace's leadership.
O'Day recalled that even during training camp, there were positive signs about the team's potential. "You don't have a crystal ball to say, 'Hey, this is going to be a championship team at the end of the year,' but we certainly felt confident in our team," he noted.
The team's confidence grew substantially after sweeping the home-and-home series against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. "We've lost to Winnipeg quite often in big games and so to say that wasn't important for us to win the series versus Winnipeg, I'd be lying," O'Day admitted.
Building for the Future
With the championship celebration still fresh, O'Day is already looking ahead to the 2026 season. His primary focus involves contract negotiations with key free agents who were instrumental in the team's success.
The general manager's confidence in the team's direction echoes comments he made during his previous year-end availability in November 2024, when he stated, "I truly feel like this is an ascending team." That assessment proved accurate as the Roughriders clinched first place in the West division with two games remaining in the regular season.
This strategic positioning allowed Saskatchewan to host the West final, where they defeated the B.C. Lions before going on to claim the Grey Cup against the Montreal Alouettes.
As O'Day and his staff begin planning for the team's championship defense, keeping the core group together represents the first crucial step in what they hope will be another successful campaign.
