Jason Maas would be a great addition to our coaching staff

Jason Maas would be a great addition to our coaching staff

Published: Thursday, Dec 5th 2019, 3:12pm

By: Stephen Safinuk (@Safimod)

On Wednesday, Farhan Lalji of TSN sent Rider Nation into a tizzy by reporting that the Riders had asked the Eskimos for permission to interview Jason Maas for their potentially open offensive coordinator position. While Stephen McAdoo is still currently employed by the Riders, his contract (like all of the other assistants) expires at the end of the year, according to Justin Dunk.

Looking back through his time as an Offensive Coordinator over the past 5 seasons, its hard to argue with the success of his offence. Here is Jason Maas passing and touchdown numbers over that stretch:

2015: 44 offensive touchdowns and 5803 passing yards

2016: 53 offensive touchdowns and 5922 passing yards

2017: 50 offensive touchdowns and 5972 passing yards

2018: 50 offensive touchdowns and 5606 passing yards

2019: 37 offensive touchdowns and 5286 passing yards

Avg: 46.8 offensive touchdowns and 5717.8 passing yards

Let’s compare those to Stephen McAdoo as an offensive coordinator from 2014-2019

2014: 40 offensive touchdowns and 5286 passing yards

2015: 33 offensive touchdowns and 3436 passing yards

2016: 29 offensive touchdowns and 5016 passing yards

2017: 49 offensive touchdowns and 5282 passing yards

2018: 25 offensive touchdowns and 3971 passing yards

2019: 44 offensive touchdowns and 4769 passing yards

Avg: 36.7 offensive touchdowns and 4626.7 passing yards

Best way to see the comparison is to look at 2015 with McAdoo (Edmonton) vs 2016 with Maas (also Edmonton). The Edmonton Eskimos were statistically better in almost every offensive category going from 2015 to 2016, with the same QB group and similar receivers.

Adrian DeCorby (@Decorbs) shared the following stats on twitter as well:

Only once in his 5 years as an Offensive Coordinator has Jason Maas finished outside of the top 3 in points, and he’s yet to fall out of the top 3 in yards per game.

Like him or not, Jason Maas would make this offense better heading into a Grey Cup year. While some on social media have been calling for the Riders to look at Damon Allen, who is apparently interested in an OC position in the CFL, this is not the time to look at a guy with an unproven track record. Nothing would set New Mosaic Stadium off like a Grey Cup win at home, and Jason Maas will give the offence a good shot at getting there. As he looks to fill out his own coaching staff for the first time, Craig Dickenson could do far worse than Maas as OC. In fact, I’m having a hard time finding a better available option. Especially if he can keep the tirades to a minimum when you remove the head coach’s stress from his plate.