REGINA — J.C. Sherritt is back in the CFL.
Sherritt was the league's outstanding defensive player in 2012 as a linebacker with the Edmonton Elks. He'll serve as the Saskatchewan Roughriders linebackers coach and run-game co-ordinator this season as part of head coach Corey Mace's staff.
Sherritt appeared in 109 career CFL games over eight seasons with Edmonton (2011-18). He helped the Elks win a Grey Cup in 2015 and recorded 528 tackles, 15 sacks,14 interceptions (one returned for TD) and seven fumble recoveries as a player.
He spent the 2019 season as a linebacker coach with the Calgary Stampeders and last year was a defensive analyst at Washington State following a year at Auburn.
The Riders hired Mace as their head coach Dec. 1. The 38-year-old native of Port Moody, B.C., had spent the previous two years as the Toronto Argonauts defensive co-ordinator. Mace will also handle defensive co-ordinator duties with Saskatchewan. Shortly after his hiring, the Riders named Marc Mueller as the offensive co-ordinator and Kent Maugeri as special-teams co-ordinator.
Joining Mueller on the offensive staff will be Edwin Harrison (offensive line), Marquay McDaniel (receivers) and Anthony Vitale (running backs). Harrison and McDaniel are both former CFL players while Vitale served as the Riders offensive line coach last year.
Harrison had spent the last two seasons as Toronto's running backs coach and run-game co-ordinator. McDaniel has previous coaching experience at McMaster as well as in the CFL with Montreal (offensive assistant) and Calgary (receivers).
The defensive staff will consist of Mace, Sherritt, Josh Bell (defensive backs, pass-game co-ordinator), Phillip Daniels (defensive line) and Jordan Linnen (defensive assistant). Jeff Higgins will serve as a special-teams assistant coach.
Bell was a defensive back both in the NFL (San Diego, Denver, Green Bay) and CFL (B.C., Calgary and Toronto). He earned a Super Bowl ring with the Packers (2010) and a Grey Cup with the Stampeders (2014).
He served as a defensive backs coach with Calgary (2018-19) and Toronto (2021-23), earning a Grey Cup ring in '22 with the Argos.
Daniels was a defensive lineman in the NFL with Seattle, Chicago and Washington before serving as a coach with the Philadelphia Eagles (winning a Super Bowl in 2017) and spending a year in the Washington Commanders player-personnel department. His son, DaVaris Daniels, is a receiver with the Toronto Argonauts.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2024.
The Canadian Press
