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Roughriders’ Corey Chamblin collects CFL coach of the year honour

Moments after being confirmed as the best in his biz, Corey Chamblin flashed back on a prophetic conversation he had with Jim Barker during his first season in the CFL.

Back in 2008, Chamblin, who on Wednesday collected the Annis Stukus Trophy as the cherry on the sundae of the Saskatchewan Roughriders' Grey Cup-winning season, was a young defensive backs coach with the Calgary Stampeders. As they prepped for the Grey Cup against the Montreal Alouettes, Barker offered a sage vote of confidence that tipped Chamblin toward staying in the league.

"Even when I got to the CFL, I didn't think I'd be a head coach as early as I did," said Chamblin, 36, who won the coach-of-the-year award over the Stampeders' John Hufnagel and his Grey Cup opponent, Hamilton's Kent Austin.

"Two people I would like to talk about there would be ['Riders GM] Brendan Taman, for thinking out of the box and giving me an opportunity to be a head coach [at the age of 35 in 2012]. The other is Jim Barker. I can remember, 2008 Grey Cup, sitting in the room breaking down film and he said, 'you'll be a better head coach than assistant coach. And if you decide to stay in this league and don't go to the NFL, you'll be a head coach.' I was like, 'Jim, you're crazy.' Jim and Brendan, I thought they were crazy but they know what they know and they saw what they saw in me.

"I recall he [Barker] said, 'You remind me of a guy, [former Super Bowl-winning coach] Mike Holmgren, you're going to be a better head coach than you are assistant if you decide to stay in this league.' I took that and I think that was something that opened my eyes. I should start preparing myself."

Chamblin, who is two years younger than Ottawa Redblacks QB Henry Burris, whom the 'Riders shut down during the 2013 Grey Cup, had no head coaching experience when the 'Riders put him in charge before the '12 season. The former NFL defensive back is also the first African-American to win the honour. Michael (Pinball) Clemons guided Toronto to a Grey Cup in 2004, but the coaching award went to Hamilton's Greg Marshall.

As the Cup host team in football-feverish Saskatchewan, the 'Riders came into last season under even more intense scrutiny than usual on the Prairies. They had the best start in club history at 8-1. Their season, though, was on verge of going asunder when three 'Riders — Dwight Anderson, Eron Riley and Taj Smith — were charged with assault stemming from a nightclub incident. The club also went through a four-game losing streak during that stretch.

"A lot of people said it was a negative turning point in our season," Chamblin recalled. "We were 8-1 at that point. There has to be a correction period ... what happened was very unfortunate for those young men, very unfortunate for the club, but we ended up turning it from a negative into a positive. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but let's make this the right place at the right time.

"The previous year we had two five-game losing streaks," Chamblin added. "I took it personal, I had to show I'm a better coach. In the locker room [after that fourth consecutive loss] the mindset was, ''we don't have anything to lose, let's play, let's play.' From that point forward nobody worried about the Grey Cup."

Saskatchewan righted its path to finish second in the West Division at 11-7. It beat the B.C. Lions at home in the semifinal, then its defence came up with seven takeaways during a 35-13 rout of Hufnagel's Stampeders in the West final to earn the right to host the Grey Cup.

"I'm very pleased for Corey," said Hufnagel, who was seeking his second Stukus selection. "He's done a great job over the two years. He's faced enough adversity. He understands the importance of staying the path and keeping your belief and what your program is. They've done that in Saskatchewan. I'm just pleased for him."

The 'Riders will come into the new season minus slotback Weston Dressler, who is testing the NFL waters.

"We lost probably the best receiver in the CFL," Chamblin said. "So we have to go through some things with reshaping and retooling the offence. That's the biggest thing for us. Not to find another Weston Dressler but to move on after losing a large piece of what we had last year."

Chamblin allowed that he feels he might have broken a mould, being honoured despite his relative youth and brief track record in the CFL. He had only one season under his belt as a defensive coordinator before being tapped to lead the 'Riders.

"It's an awesome award," he said. "Kent and Huf are [former] quarterbacks, they're offensive guys. I'm defensive-minded. There are so many ways for me to look at it, overcoming a lot of stigmas."

Now it's on dealing with Rider Nation's ever-increasing expectations. No coach has ever taken Saskatchewan to the CFL's summit twice, although Austin left for Cornell University immediately after their 2007 win.

"That's a positive thing to have in Saskatchewan to want to win the Grey Cup every year," Chamblin said. "That was one of the things I wanted to turn around when I came in there.

"Winning last year, that's the biggest weight off my shoulders," he said. "Now I don't have the grind of, 'will I ever do it?' "

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.