REGINA — Andrew Harris is a rookie once again.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders hired the league's all-time leading Canadian rusher as their running backs coach Monday. The 37-year-old Winnipeg native enters the CFL coaching ranks just over a year after ending a decorated career.
Harris joined an organization with a few familiar faces. Most notably, Riders head coach Corey Mace and running back A.J. Ouellette were both with Toronto — Mace as the Argos defensive coordinator — when Harris was there for the 2022-23 seasons.
But Harris also played five seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2016-19, 2021). The prospect of seeing him don green will definitely take many Manitobans time to get used to.
"I'm a rookie again now as a coach and you need guys you can trust who will bring you along and support you," Harris told reporters during a teleconference. "I feel this is a good situation for me, one I never would've expected being a Winnipeg guy … but at the end of the day it's football and I know football really well.
"I am excited to help contribute to the success of the team this year."
Harris and Ouellette were very close during their time in Toronto, helping the franchise win a Grey Cup their first year together. But the five-foot-nine, 215-pound Harris said he was pretty much a player-coach with the Argos and anticipates the transition to full-time coach to be a seamless one.
"I wasn't the main guy anymore (with Toronto) and so for me passing nuggets and information and tips and little things to A.J … I was already kind of in that role," Harris said. "Now it's more official.
"The thing is that it's more personal for me because I do care about the guy (Ouellette) as a whole. I think as a coach you want to have that with all of your players but it's a good start to have that relationship kicked off."
And after having to contend with Saskatchewan's rabid fan base as a player, Harris will now have its full support in his new role.
"Obviously the fan base is a great one," he said. "It was always one of the toughest places to play, but always an exciting place to play.
"You've got people who are expecting you to win and be great and that pressure makes diamonds."
The '22 Grey Cup win was the fourth of Harris's illustrious CFL career. He began his 15-year career with the B.C. Lions (2009-15) before going on to Winnipeg and Toronto, winning championships with all three clubs.
Following the '23 season, Harris began working in sales in Ontario for a publicly traded company and admits he didn't miss football. At least, not until the start of the CFL playoffs.
"That's when things really get geared up and I just know how that intensity kicks in and the attention to detail," he said. "That's when I really first started missing football and was kind of thinking, 'Maybe I want to get back into it.'"
Harris is the CFL's leading Canadian rusher with 10,380 yards (5.3-yard average) with 51 TDs. He also recorded 607 catches for 5,489 yards and 32 touchdowns.
Harris is just one of six players in CFL history to crack the 10,000-yard rushing plateau and is Winnipeg's sixth all-time leading rusher with 5,402 yards.
Harris led the CFL in rushing four times and was its outstanding Canadian in 2017. A five-time CFL all-star, Harris was named the Grey Cup's top Canadian and outstanding player in 2019, having also earned top Canadian honours in 2011.
Before joining the Riders, Harris served as director of football operations for the Canadian Junior Football League's Vancouver Island Raiders, the same team he won national championships with as a running back in 2006, 2008 and 2009.
Harris replaces Anthony Vitale, who served as Riders running backs coach for two seasons but was unable to return to the club for personal reasons.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2025.
The Canadian Press
