Rob Vanstone: "Being great is going to hurt"

11/13/2024 11:08 AM

It can be beneficial to remember some things we would rather forget.

Consider the Saskatchewan Roughriders' 38-22 loss to the host Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Saturday's CFL Western Final.

"Let it fuel you this off-season," veteran offensive tackle Jermarcus Hardrick said. "Make sure it drives you.

"I've been there. You've got to let it hurt."

That message was reinforced by Offensive Line Coach Edwin Harrison — who, like Hardrick, brought Grey Cup-winning credentials to Saskatchewan leading up to the 2024 season.

"It's basically like what Coach Ed told us," Hardrick continued. "Think about it every rep in the off-season. Think about it when you go to work out and you're tired.

"It's going to hurt. Being great is going to hurt. To lay the foundation we laid this year, it's going to hurt. To build a dynasty, it's not going to start very easily or very fast. It takes time and I'm excited."

Harrison has been a champion as a player (with the 2014 Calgary Stampeders) and assistant coach (2022 Toronto Argonauts).

Hardrick earned Grey Cup rings with the Blue Bombers in 2019 and 2021.

In the cases of the Stampeders and Blue Bombers, it wasn't a matter of magically flicking a switch and — voila! — waltzing a championship.

The Blue Bombers didn't win a title until their sixth season under Head Coach Mike O'Shea.

Their combined record over the first two years under O'Shea: 12-24-0.

Winnipeg won 10-plus games in Years 3 to 5 of the O'Shea era, only to be eliminated in the divisional semi-final (2016, 2017) or the final (2018).

Then, and only then, did the Blue Bombers embark on a run of success that has landed them a fifth consecutive berth in the championship game — Sunday's collision with the Argonauts in Vancouver.

Harrison and Corey Mace, the Roughriders' current head coach, became first-time Grey Cup champions with the 2014 Stampeders.

Over their previous four seasons as teammates, Calgary went 50-22-0. Included were first-place finishes in 2010 (13-5-0) and 2013 (14-4-0).

Yet, Calgary lost three divisional playoff games and one Grey Cup during a predominantly prosperous period in which the regular-season winning percentage was 69.4.

"In Calgary, it was the expectation of, 'Hey, it's Cup or nothing,' " Mace recalled. "We weren't even excited about playing in a West final. That was the expectation.

"I think what we're building here expectation-wise is why you see so many people extremely upset."

With Mace in charge of the on-field operation, Saskatchewan went 9-8-1 before defeating the visiting B.C. Lions 28-19 in the Western Semi-Final on Nov. 2.

Along the way, the Roughriders overcame a flood of injuries and a seven-game winless streak. Saskatchewan spun out of the slump by winning four games in a succession and earning a home playoff game.

"While we were grateful to be in the position that we were in, there were so many different things that happened this year where the stories could be completely different," Mace noted.

"Yet, playing the game (in Winnipeg on Saturday), that was certainly the expectation of what we set out for, and we wanted much more. What we found out is we've still got some work to do.

"I can certainly go back to and pull from 2010, 2012… Those years were monumental in strengthening the idea of what it looks like for a team to not be satisfied with really anything other than the ultimate goal.

"I hope this is what we take from it. That's not to say that it's easy to get there, because it's as hard as hell to get to the point that we got to, but the expectation of it really goes into everything you do every day, from here on out."

All energies will be devoted to building upon a season in which Mace was named the West Division's Coach of the Year.

The label everyone covets — that of Grey Cup champion — has not yet been applied, unlike the perspective provided by A.J. Allen.

"LeBron (James) lost his first (NBA Final) before he got there," the third-year Roughriders linebacker said.

Michael Jordan didn't win a championship until his seventh NBA season, when he was 28.

Granted, professional sports is a "what have you done for me lately?" business. It can be difficult to exercise patience, especially when a team such as the 2024 Roughriders whets the appetite and quickly elevates expectations.

To a degree, Saskatchewan's late-season surge obscured the fact that 2024 was Year 1 of a renewal under a largely new coaching staff and with a revamped roster.

Much was achieved in terms of establishing cornerstones and a culture, but sometimes the process requires more time and, yes, patience.

"I love this group and I truly wouldn't have chosen to go to war with any other group than this group that we have," quarterback Trevor Harris said. "I love this team. I love this staff. I love the fan base.

"The start of something special happened this year and I think, in the future, we can look back to this year and say we set a lot of building blocks and a foundation for something truly amazing in this city and this organization."