Guest Coaches For Rider Camp

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are pleased to once again welcome a group of experienced guest coaches to training camp this year.

Paul Charbonneau will be working with Tom Freeman and the offensive line. Charbonneau comes from the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux where he is an assistant coach and works with tight ends. He originally joined the Fighting Sioux in 2005. This marks the second year Charbonneau is a guest coach with the Green and White.

Jerry Friesen is the head coach for the University of Alberta Golden Bears. The Rosthern native played linebacker for the Saskatoon Hilltops before moving on to play for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Friesen entered the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes in 1978 where he spent three seasons before moving back to Saskatchewan and signing with the Roughriders were he played six seasons. He was honoured with the CFL's Tom Pate Award for contributions to the team and the community in 1986 and later became the defensive coordinator with the Huskies in 1988, sharing in a Vanier Cup national title in 1990. Friesen will be working with Jim Daley.

Rob Harley is an assistant coach at Evangel University in Missouri. He has also coached at Eastern Oregon University, Azusa Pacific University and the University of Redlands. He will be working with Marcus Crandell during this year’s training camp.

Don Lawrence has over 45 years coaching experience. He was the offensive coordinator for the Berlin Thunder in NFL Europe and won two World Bowl rings with Amsterdam and Frankfurt. He also served as the tight ends coach for the Buffalo Bills and helped take them to four consecutive Super Bowls. Lawrence also coached at the collegiate level with Notre Dame, Kansas State, Cincinnati, Texas Christian, Missouri and was the head coach at the University of Virginia. He played three seasons in the NFL for the Washington Redskins. Lawrence will be working alongside Ken Miller during this years camp.

Former CFL kicker Gerry McGrath will be brought in to work with the Rider kickers for the fourth straight training camp. McGrath spent seven seasons in the CFL with Saskatchewan, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. After serving as offensive coordinator with the University of Concordia for eight seasons he was named head coach in 2000.

Also attending training camp to assistant in a variety of coaching areas are Ted Bilderbeck - a retired football coach who spent most of his time coaching at Imperial Valley in Southern California and Darrick Yray – an assistant in the Fresno State football program.