Breaking: Grey Cup coaches Mace and Maas up for CFL’s top coaching award

Corey Mace of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Jason Maas of the Montreal Alouettes have once again been named finalists for the CFL’s coach of the year award.

The league confirmed the news Monday, with voting carried out by the Football Reporters of Canada. Mace earns the nomination for the second consecutive season after guiding Saskatchewan to a league-best 12–6 regular-season record in 2025.

The winner will be announced March 25 in Edmonton during the CFL’s national combine.

Saskatchewan claimed a 25–17 victory over Montreal in November’s Grey Cup. Maas, last year’s coach of the year recipient, led the Alouettes to a 10–8 mark and a fourth straight playoff berth.

Two additional honours will also be handed out at the combine. The Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership Award returns, while the new Ted Goveia Football Operations Award will be presented for the first time. The award is named in memory of former Hamilton Tiger-Cats general manager Ted Goveia, who died of throat cancer on Sept. 12 at age 55.

That honour recognizes excellence among football operations staff in areas such as scouting, player evaluation, roster construction and leadership.

This story was originally published by The Canadian Press on Feb. 9, 2026.