Craig Reynolds: From Foam Lake quarterback to Roughriders CEO

Craig Reynolds went 0-6 as quarterback of his high school football team, the Foam Lake Panthers. But that didn't stop him from getting his dream gig in the game of football.

The 39-year-old grew up in Foam Lake, Sask. He has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Masters in Professional Accounting from the University of Saskatchewan. As an accountant, Reynolds moved from Saskatoon to Luxembourg, England, then back in Canada to Calgary and finally to Regina where in 2009, he became the Roughriders' Chief Financial Officer.

Climbing the ladder

Reynolds has led several high profile projects, which impressed his predecessor Jim Hopson.

"Six years ago I wouldn't have said that's he's the next CEO," Hopson said. "Every time we gave him a challenge he stepped up to it. Whether it was the Grey Cup Legacy project, Grey Cup, he just responded. The more you gave him, the more he did."

After three years, the Roughriders promoted Reynolds to senior vice-president. Over his tenure he has handled the club's finances and even worked with the team's front office to help manage the salary cap. According to a team news release under Reynolds, "the club's stabilization reserves have grown from $1 million to more than $12 million in five years."

The more you gave him the more he did.- Riders President Jim Hopson on his successor Craig Reynolds

Not the public face

As club president, Reynolds now has to deal with the passionate Rider nation. Negative comments come with the territory and that's something the married father of two carefully considered before applying.

"I've got two young kids, stepping out from a little bit behind the scenes to a little bit public facing. You worry about the impact on your kids," said Reynolds. 

Still, don't expect to see Reynolds in front of the cameras and microphones as much as the man he's replacing. Jim Hopson was the team's first ever president and became a de-facto spokesperson for the team. Reynolds sees his role differently.

"We've got incredibly talented people that can be the public face of this organization so I don't see myself as being the public face," said Reynolds.

More championships 

The man in charge of managing the now $40 million business of the Roughriders has to shepherd the move into a new stadium in 2017. But this accountant won't just be crunching the numbers, he is a lifelong Rider fan and wants to see the club winning Grey Cups.

"There's more championships to win. We've won four championships in 104 years, so there's lots of opportunities to improve on that record and that will continue to be a focus of our organization," Reynolds said.