Sayville’s Jack Coan to make first CFL start Saturday for Saskatchewan

“This is real exciting. It’s all about opportunity and waiting for it. Now it’s finally here,” said Coan’s father, Mike, who will be in the stands in Regina with Jack’s mom Donna to see the 1 p.m. (local time) kickoff. The game starts at 3 p.m. here on the East Coast.

“He’s been waiting a long time, over two years,” Mike Coan said. “He’s ready. He’s excited, too.”

The Coans were cheering from the stands earlier this season in Montreal, when Jack played the final two minutes of the Roughriders’ loss and completed both of his passes for 15 yards. Those are his only throws of the 2026 season.

His dad pointed to a résumé built on big stages. At Wisconsin, Coan played in Big Ten championship games and the Rose Bowl. At Notre Dame, he led the Irish to within one spot of the four-team College Football Playoff, and then broke multiple passing records in Notre Dame’s appearance in the Fiesta Bowl.

He also played in the East-West Shrine Bowl, where he won the Pat Tillman Award, which honors intelligence, sportsmanship and service.

Mike Coan noted that his son received the majority of first-team reps at practice this week. He said backups in the CFL, as in the NFL, rarely get practice snaps with the starters.

“You just have to go in and make the best of the opportunity,” said Mike Coan, who doesn’t see his son as a player nearing the end of the road.

“He’s got a full tank of gas,” he said. “It’s not gonna be over for a long time. He will fulfill his goal.”

That goal — playing on Sundays in the NFL — has been dangled in front of him before, via tryouts with the Jets and San Francisco and a full pre-season with Indianapolis.

“He’s driven,” he added. “Never seen a person work like him, eat like him and be dedicated. The kid never gives up, ever. He’s just getting started.”

Joining the Coans at the game will be Coan’s girlfriend, Sydney Hilley. A professional volleyball player with League One Volleyball Minnesota, Hilley was the setter on Wisconsin’s 2021 NCAA championship volleyball team and a three-time Big Ten Setter of the Year. She is considered to be among the best setters in the sport.

Coan is set to become the 106th starting quarterback in Roughriders history. In doing so, he’ll be the third Notre Dame alumnus to start at quarterback for Saskatchewan, following in the footsteps Frank Tripucka (1953-59, 1963) and Tom Clements (1979).

Saturday’s game still matters. A win over Edmonton sends Saskatchewan to the Western semi-final against the B.C. Lions on Oct. 31. A loss ships the Roughriders across to the East Division to face the Toronto Argonauts.

Coan has been Harris’ understudy all season. He has dressed for all 17 regular-season, but only made the one appearance. Teammates call him “Little Trevor” because of how deeply he immerses himself in preparation.

Regular-season finales have been good to Coan. In his CFL debut, the 2024 finale against Calgary on Oct. 26, he came on in the second quarter. He completed 10 of 21 passes for 100 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown pass to Jerreth Sterns, his first CFL scoring throw.

Last season, after an early hand injury, he scored on a 1-yard run at Winnipeg on Oct. 17. He added two more 1-yard touchdown runs against B.C. on Oct. 25. Those were the Roughriders’ final three touchdowns of the 2025 regular season, and Saskatchewan went on to win the Grey Cup.

On Long Island, Coan’s legend was built at Sayville High School. He led the Golden Flashes to an undefeated season and a Long Island championship in 2015.

As a senior in 2016, he threw for 2,153 yards and 31 touchdowns and led Sayville to a 10-1 record and the Suffolk Division III final. That season, he was the unanimous winner of the Hansen Award as Suffolk County’s top football player, and he was also named Gatorade’s New York Player of the Year.

Coan is a pending free agent, which makes Saturday’s start a valuable showcase for the 27-year-old.

Greater Long Island has followed Coan’s football journey since his days as a starter at Wisconsin.

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_{Top: Jack Coan competing in a 2025 game (Andrew Mahon/CFL) and inset image of Coan (Donna Coan).}