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It may have been just a pre-season game, but Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Jack Coan could not have been happier to be back behind center in any kind of professional game for the first time in nearly 400 days.
“I’m super-excited,” the 25-year-old from Sayville told Riderville.com after a practice last week. “I feel like I haven’t played in a game in a long time… It’ll be good to show what I can do in a game.”
Playing mostly in the fourth quarter of Saskatchewan’s 25-12 win over Winnipeg on Monday afternoon, Coan did pretty much all he was asked to do. He completed six of eight passes for 40 yards in guiding the Roughriders’ offense for two possessions, including a 56-yard drive that led to a 37-yard field goal.
The former Notre Dame and Wisconsin signal caller also rushed for four yards on three carries.
Heading into the game, Coan was listed as fifth on the quarterback depth chart. But only veteran projected started Trevor Harris and backup Shea Patterson saw more time than Coan in the Roughriders’ home tilt against the Blue Bombers.
Coan signs with CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders
Coan, 25, had last appeared in a game on April 22, 2003, playing his best game for the XFL’s San Antonio Brahmas, a 29-28 loss to the D.C. Defenders to end the regular season and eliminate the Brahmas from playoff contention. He completed 34 of 48 passes for 312 yards.
Later, Coan received invites to tryouts from the NFL’s Jets and San Francisco. But he was unable to catch on with an NFL team in 2023.
Originally signed as an undrafted free agent by Indianapolis after the 2022 NFL draft, Coan was cut by the Colts during the last week of pre-season that August.
He is the fourth former Notre Dame quarterback to play for the Roughriders. Frank Tripucka (1953-58, 1959, 1963), Tom Clements (1979) and Tony Rice (1990 regular season) preceded him, Riderville.com reported.
“You can definitely feel that there’s a lot of history here,” Coan told Riderville.com, “and it’s cool to try to be a part of it.”
Playing one season in South Bend, Coan led the 2021 Irish to an 11-2 record, which included a 35-33 loss to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2022. He threw for five touchdowns and 509 yards, both Fiesta Bowl records.
With Saskatchewan, his goals are modest, for now.
“I’m really going to try to take it one play at a time and get the ball in the right spots and just compete as hard as I can,” he said to Riderville.com. “I’ll just try to do my job on every play.”
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