Perhaps like the rest of his team, Toronto Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray was struggling through an uncertain offseason.

And as the Argos got some much-needed clarity in naming Marc Trestman and Jim Popp their new head coach and GM respectively, so too did Ray when Trestman named him the starter in his introductory news conference.

Ray was appreciative of his new head coach's vote of confidence, which helped him hone in his offseason training.

"Going into training camp knowing where you stand allows you to focus in a little bit tighter on what your job is and it's nice to have the confidence of the coach off the bat and go in there and have the first opportunity to really prove myself to him and the team," he explained in a conference call on Thursday.

"(You) don't have to deal with uncertainty and not really knowing what your opportunity is going to be or what your roll could be, so I'm definitely thankful that I do have this situation (being named starter) going into training camp."

Ray admitted that it has a tough offseason with speculation swirling about his future with the Double Blue. The 37-year-old CFL veteran wasn't even sure what the upcoming season would bring.

"I knew I was going to be coming back, it's just what situation I was going to be coming back into," he said. "Who was going to be the coach? All those sorts of things.

"It definitely was a long process but I'm excited and happy and looking forward to what's been happening here the last week or so."

And now, Ray is paired with a head coach who has a reputation for getting the most out of his quarterbacks.

"I'm definitely excited to work with him," he said. "He's coached some great quarterbacks in a bunch of different leagues and everything that I've heard about him and playing against him when he was in Montreal, I'm really looking forward to being under his guidance."

Trestman had tremendous success in his five seasons with the Montreal Alouettes, working with Anthony Calvillo en route to two Grey Cups. Trestman also helped then-37-year-old Rich Gannon win the NFL's MVP award in 2002 when he was offensive coordinator of the Oakland Raiders.

Ray hopes to get off the ground running after working with Trestman's former OC Scott Milanovich over the past five years.

"Scott brought the same system over and a lot of the same philosophies I'm sure that he got from Marc, just with coaching the quarterback," Ray explained. "And obviously it's a system that's quarterback-friendly and they do a great job of coaching us up and putting us in good situations to go out there and be successful and play to your strengths.

"I assume it's going to be pretty similar so that's why I'm looking forward to being able to work with him."

Ray spent the winter getting mentally ready for the 2017 season and added he's never felt physically better over the last couple of seasons.

"I'm feeling great," he said. "After last season, it took me a good month - month and a half - to get recovered, just with the couple injuries I had. But I'm feeling great now."

Ray, who missed 15 games in 2015 and was sidelined with a shoulder injury much of last season, cautioned he won't fully know how he'll be feeling until he starts playing again.

"I'm going to find out in training camp," Ray said. "Really, the last two offseasons have been a little bit different for me, coming off the shoulder surgery and not having it feel as great as it can be.

"It's just getting better every year that I've gone past the surgery and this year is no different. I can definitely tell how much better it feels this year better than it has last year."