Riders announce coaching and football ops staff
Published
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have announced their coaching and football operations staff for the upcoming seasons, with Drew Tate as receivers coach, Del Cowsette joining as defensive line coach, Naaman Roosevelt as offensive assistant, offensive line coach Anthony Vitale and Andrew Bolduc as run game coordinator and running backs Coach.
Tate has served as a coach in both the collegiate and professional ranks, most recently as the tight ends coach at the University of Northern Iowa. The Texas native is a two-time Grey Cup champion (2007, 2014) and played 147 CFL games, completing 410-of-615 pass attempts for 5,008 yards, 35 touchdowns, 16 interceptions and added 162 carries for 629 yards and 24 touchdowns
Bolduc joins the Roughriders with 22 years of coaching experience, most recently spending nine seasons with the Montreal Alouettes as Assistant Coach and working with the running backs. Prior to the Alouettes, Bolduc was a successful collegiate level coach spending time with the Université de Montréal, Collège Montmorency and the University of Sherbrooke. The Quebec native also enjoyed a six-year CFL career (1996-2001) with Ottawa, Edmonton and Montreal.
Cowsette brings 16 years of collegiate coaching to the Roughriders defensive line. Most recently at the Air Force Academy, Cowsette also coached at his alma matter, the University of Maryland, the University of Albany, Hampton University and in the UFL, where he helped the Virginia Destroyers win the UFL Championship.
A four-year standout at Maryland (1996-99), Cowsette was drafted by the Washington Commanders and played for the New York Giants, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears from 2000-06.
Roosevelt joins the coaching staff full time after attending 2022 training camp as a guest coach. The popular former receiver spent nearly all of his six-year CFL career in Green and White, suiting up for 67 games between 2015 and 2019. Over that time, he recorded 301 receptions for 4,134 yards and 20 touchdowns. Prior to the CFL, Roosevelt spent four seasons in the NFL, suiting up for 20 games, earning 396 yards receiving and scoring one touchdown.
Vitale joins the club with more than 10 years of collegiate and professional coaching experience, most recently spending the 2022 season as the offensive line coach for the Edmonton Elks. Prior to the CFL, he spent one season offensive coordinator/offensive line coach at Eastern New Mexico University.
They join defensive coordinator Jason Shivers, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kelly Jeffrey, special teams coordinator Kent Maugeri and assistant coaches Deion Melvin and Marcus Klund on head coach Craig Dickenson’s coaching staff.
The team also announced that Jordan Greenly, formerly the manager of football operations, has been promoted to director of football operations and announced Greg Mayer as its new head athletic therapist.