Davis: Roughriders O-line learning life's lessons from Edwin Harrison

Calgary Herald

2 days ago

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Popular at reunions and conventions, those fill-in-the-blank badges might be helpful among the Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive linemen, where coach Edwin Harrison has worked with so many players during the past two CFL seasons he sometimes mixes them up.
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'You know, the funny thing is, I do occasionally mess up some names,' Harrison said at Mosaic Stadium following a recent practice spent preparing for Saturday's road game against the Montreal Alouettes.
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'The guys give me so much crap about it. In a funny way it gives every man in that room a sense of belonging and that they contributed to where we are.'
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Harrison, a former NFL and CFL offensive lineman who won a Grey Cup as a player with the 2014 Calgary Stampeders and an assistant coach with the 2022 Toronto Argonauts, instructs a group that has been constantly changing since he joined the Roughriders in 2024.
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He treats them like men. He expects them to be accountable. And he wants them to always be ready.
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'Every man who walks into that room, I don't care if you're on the practice roster, the one-game or six-game (injury lists) or you're starting,' said Harrison. 'You have prepare like you're playing.
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'You have to take notes like you're playing. You have to ask questions like you're playing. It really doesn't matter who is physically on the roster, who's actually a starter, they're watching film at home and preparing as if they're playing.'
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For the six roster positions available each game — two tackles, two guards, one centre and a backup — the Roughriders dressed 13 different players last season and started 12. Because of in-game injuries they also deployed two defensive linemen as emergency replacements.
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This season they have started three different left tackles, three left guards and two right guards. Right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick has started every game after missing most of 2024 and Logan Ferland, an all-star guard, has shifted to centre because of injuries during training camp. There are six offensive linemen on Saskatchewan's injury lists and three more on the practice roster as general manager Jeremy O'Day and his staff work to keep the pipeline full.
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'Even on our walk-through day, they have their own player presentations of pass rushers and they have player-led meetings to talk out protections,' said Harrison. 'I really don't say anything. They completely do it.
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'Not only does it let me know, but it lets the rest of the men in the room know who is prepared for this week and who has not prepared for this.'
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Last season the Riders were so short-handed they lured Brandon Council out of retirement for one game. This season they have recalled Noah Zerr and Nick Jones, who were training camp cuts. Zerr was given an unexpected start Friday when Zack Fry got injured in a car accident just before Saskatchewan's 21-18 victory over the Edmonton Elks.
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'The great thing is that Zack came out of there relatively unharmed,' said Harrison. 'You know, immediately the thing you think of as a parent — I have an eight-year-old and a five-year-old — and I immediately just thought of my sons calling me when they're older.
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'So you just thank God everything is OK. He has all his faculties and everything is fine and he'll be OK because, like I said, life is the most important thing.'
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While compiling a CFL-best 6-1 mark, the Roughriders have surrendered nine quarterback sacks — two more than the league leaders, and are third-best with an average of 107 rushing yards per game. When the offensive line had a poor showing, surrendering three sacks in a 24-10 loss to the Calgary Stampeders, Ferland said the group was upset and was working extra hard to prevent a similar performance.
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'That's what being a man is,' said Harrison. 'Not only as a husband, but as a father, once you start taking responsibility for your life, your profession, your family, as a man, once you take responsibility for that, you'd be amazed at what you can do.
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'Because you know in your mind that if this succeeds it's because of me. And if it does not, it's because of me.'
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Roughriders head coach Corey Mace, a longtime friend/teammate/coach with Harrison, lovingly calls his offensive line assistant 'Coach of the Year' for the work he has done building a respectable group despite the constant shuffling. It seems like he's more than just a coach.
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