LAS VEGAS

Craig Reynolds was a 13-year-old in Foam Lake, Sask., when Kent Austin guided the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a thrilling victory in the 1989 Grey Cup.

Dave Ridgway's game winning field goal turned Reynolds from a 'Riders fan into a diehard 'Riders fan.

“That was a watershed moment in my fandom,” Reynolds said with a reminiscent smile Thursday during a break in league meetings. “Now, 25 years later, I'm sitting across from (Austin) in the board room. I was always an Austin guy, too. At that time it was Austin or (Tom) Burgess. Austin was my guy.”

Reynolds is sitting in the board room with Austin because he is now president and CEO of his Saskatchewan Roughriders, the CFL's richest and most popular franchise. If that weren't enough, he's been the star of the off-season thus far, landing Chris Jones as his new GM and head coach, and agreeing to terms with one of the league's top personnel men in John Murphy, who was also one of the team's GM candidates.

The man who will celebrate his 40th birthday next Thursday is completing some seriously long bombs these days and getting plenty of praise because of it, which isn't exactly his style considering he hails from rural Saskatchewan.

After his successful week of landing a couple of the hottest names in an attempt to get the franchise to rise from the ashes of a 3-15 season, Reynolds is the reluctant rock star. He was walking through the Regina airport the other night, on his way to Vegas, when somebody saw him and yelled: “Great hire!” He gets noticed at the grocery store now. That won't stop any time soon.

“I wouldn't say I'm officially famous,” Reynolds said. “I get recognized a lot more now than ever before. There was a little bump in August when we made the changes (firing Brendan Taman and Corey Chamblin). I'm more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. Right now I'm not.

“When you're president and CEO of the Saskatchewan Roughriders you can't be totally behind the scenes, but I'm more of a behind-the-scenes guy than an in-front guy.”

Reynolds isn't always an introvert. We know this because he toured Riderville on the Saturday night before the Grey Cup in Winnipeg with drink in hand, which was a brave thing for one of the most famous Saskatchewanians to do.

“That's what it's all about,” Reynolds said. “That's what the CFL's all about. And that's what the Roughriders are all about.

“It was neat, because I knew going there with the search underway, you were going to get lots of advice. But that was good. It was fun just to talk to people and have that interaction.”

And to think Reynolds had already found his permanent job twice before replacing Jim Hopson in March as president and CEO. Reynolds moved across the pond to Luxembourg in 2002 and then, after a year there, spent two more in London working as a chartered accountant, which is his occupation by trade. He and his wife, Lisa Yaskowich, wanted to start a family, so they moved back to Canada and settled in Alberta, where Reynolds worked for Suncor Energy in both Calgary and Fort McMurray.

“I thought that was kind of the end game,” Reynolds said. “But I've always loved and had a passion for sports, specifically football and specifically the 'Riders. A couple things happened just career-wise where I just happened to be looking for jobs back in Saskatchewan, and the 'Rider (chief financial officer) job just happened to be open at that time. So I thought well, this would be kind of cool. One thing led to another, and I got that job.”

He spent nearly six years in charge of the league's biggest bank account and loved every minute of it. It was something he would have had no trouble doing for the rest of his life.

“It was very cool,” he said. “At that time I thought 'Hey, I'm in my dream job. I'm an accountant by trade, and I'm the CFO of a professional sports team and the team I grew up loving.'”

Then Hopson decided to retire, and Reynolds had become so ingrained in the organization that he knew the ins and outs like few others. He got the president and CEO position, securing his dream job for the second time. Unless he's going to play quarterback for the Roughies -- and that's unlikely considering he was 0-6 as the starter for the Foam Lake Panthers in high school -- it probably won't get much better than this.

Actually, winning a few more games and a Grey Cup or two would make it better. If the 'Riders remain in the basement, though, he'll want to go back to being that behind-the-scenes guy as much as possible.

“I'm probably much like Chris,” Reynolds said. “I won't make any bold predictions, but I think we got better as an organization. It was important for me to surround myself with the best possible people you can. Chris was the start of that.

“... It's been a positive off-season, and I'm really excited about the future of our franchise.”

O'DAY KEY FOR 'RIDERS

Chris Jones went right to work on Monday morning, even before his introductory press conference in Regina.

The new head coach and GM wanted to waste little time in getting going, which is why Jeremy O'Day made an appearance in Las Vegas this week.

Jones and O'Day, who served as Saskatchewan's interim GM between Aug. 31 and Monday, got together to start laying out a plan for the future.

O'Day refused comment on Thursday morning, likely because his new role with the team hasn't been announced yet, but president and CEO Craig Reynolds was happy to see the duo get the ball rolling. O'Day was one of four finalists for the GM job.

“He was down here working with Chris, so that's real positive,” Reynolds said. “Chris is a very, very hard worker. He's hit the ground running here, and it was important for him to spend some time with Jeremy and for the two of them to get to work.”

Reynolds said the organization wants O'Day to remain with the Green and White.

“There's lots of value in having Jeremy as part of our organization,” he said. “He's been part of it for a long time as a player and an administrator. So absolutely.”

kirk.penton@sunmedia.ca

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