Ryan Rigmaiden: BC Lions are ready to start strong. Team feeling more cohesive and comfortable.
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What is Ryan Rigmaiden's outlook heading into the BC Lions' season opener?
This is Harrison Price from the Historic Wall Center, and it's our pleasure to welcome back to the program the general manager of the British Columbia Lions, Mr. Ryan Rigmaiden. They begin their season Saturday in Regina against the Rough Riders, expecting a huge crowd there. Getting very, very excited for CFL season 2026. How you doing, Riggs? I'm doing good, man. It's been a while. Thanks for having me on. You're more than welcome. Thank you for making time, sir. First of all, beginning of the season, where's the excitement level at? How do you feel about the club?
Yeah, I feel extremely strong. Excitement is at peak levels, right? So just got out of training camp. We had a week one bye this year, so a little bit odd for us. And excited for week two versus a tough opponent in Saskatchewan.
We were just talking off-air. Year one to year two, big difference, right, when you have that continuity at training camp?
Yeah, last year, Buck being a rookie head coach, myself being a rookie GM, the coaches are trying to figure out the players, the players are trying to figure out the coaches, expectations are being set, and Buck's culture and philosophy was being implemented. So coming into year two, you're not starting from scratch. The coaches already know the players, vice versa. Everybody's just building, and then in my past experience, The biggest growth is usually between year one and year two with players and coaches. And so extremely excited to conclude a very, very good camp, a competitive camp, and then heading into Regina this weekend.
We were just talking as well. There's far few padded practices. There's far less physicality at practice than when you and I began covering and working in this league. How difficult does that make it on you guys as evaluators? So when we're not in pads, when we're not tackling in the open field and all that at training camp.
Yeah, it certainly puts an emphasis for being physical on the two preseason games that we have. You and I were talking about it off air, but there's been times where you've had quality defensive backs that are excellent cover guys, and you're not tackling in camp. So you've got to see how they do when the lights come on, and some of them, frankly, just missed. And so, you know, Buck does a tremendous job of running a very efficient physical camp. He's got a good idea of the pulse of the club. There's times where, frankly, we've been so physical that he gives the players a surprise day off just as a thank you to them for all their hard work and making sure that their bodies are operating efficiently.
So, you know, it's always difficult for evaluation purposes, but that's what the preseason is for. And we move forward.
Gary Peters, very important guy to your defense and in your secondary. Eight years as a BC Lions CFL All-Star. I know he sat out a bunch of camp coming off that knee procedure.
How did continuity from year one to year two impact BC Lions' training camp?
Limited at practice. What's the status and how do you feel about Gary? The old dog in that secondary holding up for 18 games this year.
Yeah, it's funny. I was talking to GP just yesterday about things moving forward, and we were talking about almost nobody plays 18 games anymore. And for a guy like Gary that's so competitive, even missing one game is a big deal for him. He's got the true grit that we're looking for. He's an absolute pro, and he wants to be out there every single snap. So he had surgery in the offseason. He missed a bunch of training camp. He's such a veteran, and he knows what we're asking him to do, that he may not need the reps like younger players. But at the same time, he has been nicked up. And so it's probably 50-50 right now. We're going to talk to our doctors today and find out the best course of action with GP.
But obviously, he's a tremendous player, and we'd love to have him on the field.
Yeah, and the one thing that I think maybe goes under the radar for a lot of fans is, especially when you have sort of a charismatic and communicator like Gary, and of course some of us saw this going back to the days of Ryan Phillips and Corey Banks when they were patrolling that secondary, like you need an alpha back there, right?
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is Ryan Rigmaiden's outlook heading into the BC Lions' season opener?
0:02–2:53
2
How did continuity from year one to year two impact BC Lions' training camp?
2:53–7:16
3
How do fewer padded practices affect player evaluation and preseason importance?
7:16–11:44
4
What is Gary Peters' health status and potential availability for the season?
11:44–12:43
Speakers
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