Coaching changes could cost Riders

The New Year started off with a bang for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, although not in the way they expected.

Special teams coach Craig Dickenson announced his resignation from the Riders and then a couple of days later were signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as their special teams coach. And this is where it gets interesting.

The reason for Dickenson leaving was a request by Rider Head Coach Cory Chamblin for all coaches to come back early. The problem for Dickenson was that he has an off-season job in Montana and is also building a house there. Dickenson couldn’t meet that condition, resigned and then got snapped up by Winnipeg.

The talk has been about how the Riders could lose an excellent special teams coach and whether Chamblin was being reasonable in asking the special teams coach to come back early. Chamblin is focused on winning the Grey Cup, and make no mistake Rider fans the pressure is on the Riders to make it to the Grey Cup in Regina in November.

With that being said, while I can see the offensive and defensive coaches coming back early, reviewing schemes and players and plotting for the next season, I wonder exactly what the point of having the special teams coach coming back early would be? Special teams is more hands on coaching and it was instructive to see the Riders construct their special teams by doing drills in training camp and identifying players who could either have the speed to block kicks, return kick, or were tenacious enough to provide blocking or tackling in returns or attempts.

Event Centre funding

City may hire lobbyist for event centre money

6h ago

International honours

Raiders' Kubiesa to represent Czechia at IIHF U18 Men's World Championship

9h ago

Learn the signs

How often should you change your brakes?

13h ago

My point is you can’t do that unless you actually have the players in front of you. The other point is reviewing the kickers, seeing how their technique is working or not, and reviewing strategies with them. Taylor Field has a reputation for being a wind tunnel, and with the longest punt and field goal made at Taylor Field, kickers need to know how to read the wind and field and unfortunately, you can’t do that unless you are there. With the renovations to Taylor Field in advance of the Grey Cup, the new bowl structure has an effect on the wind and again, until you get the snow cleared off the field and kick there, you can’t plan for that in the off-season.

Chamblin wants to raise the bar for work ethic by bringing an NFL standard for coaches in preparation. I admire that and wonder why not? The preparation time put in now should pay off later on. However, there are enough variables including which players will be here and which will not. Of course, this could be part of what the Riders are doing, evaluating players to see who should be brought back and who should not.

Today marks the first day of the National Football Coaches convention and Chamblin is down there interviewing candidates. The problem with getting a special teams coach is special teams in Canada is different from the United States and you need a coach familiar with the Canadian game as long as it is not Jim Daley. The Riders are also looking for an offensive line coach and still have their sights on Bob Wylie, although with Black Monday, the day after the NFL regular season ends when coaches get fired, has opened up a lot of spots and Wylie would like to return to the NFL.

That’s not a far-fetched notion because Marc Trestman, the coach of the Montreal Alouettes, is being interviewed by the Chicago Bears and apparently the Chicago Bears for their head coaching position.

Trestman has extensive NFL experience and does have out clauses in his Montreal contract. If Trestman gets a job south of the border, he is well aware of Wylie and will likely hire him. In addition, Montreal GM Jim Popp is being interviewed for the GM job in Jacksonville and that will be interesting for Montreal if they both get hired.

So Chamblin has to hire an offensive line coach and special teams coach and he needs to get those two right for the Riders to continue moving forward. Losing Dickenson was a headache and losing him to Winnipeg is just plain aggravating.

One option for the Riders, should nothing show up at the Nashville convention, would be defensive backfield coach Baron Miles. Miles had a good reputation for blocking kicks when he was a player and I suppose could fit in, especially since the Riders two defensive back coaches will be interesting to watch it unfold.

The Riders did do some player signings, starting with Canadian linebacker Mike McCullough. McCullough has been a solid back-up who is extremely smart, but there are those who say that physically he can’t contribute all that much other than perhaps run stopping and calling defenses. I see this signing as more of a mentorship thing especially considering the Riders have Sam Hurl, who they drafted last year and is a linebacker who will be a force in the league for years to come.

Another potential project would be Craig Butler; the Rider safety who may be moved to linebacker where the Riders can take more advantage of Butler’s hitting ability.

The Riders also signed three Saskatchewan projects – Ryan Wellman, a defensive lineman with the University of Regina Rams; Bryce McCall, a safety with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies; and Kolten Solomon, a wide receiver with the University of Regina Rams.

The most important signing here to note is Wellman. If you haven’t seen Wellman play, he is a defensive lineman with an enormous wingspan and the ability to knock balls down at the line of scrimmage. He may be a bit light to play on the line, but with his size and ability to knock down balls, I can see him lining up at outside linebacker. With Shomari Williams, our former number one draft pick caught between the defensive line and linebacker and with his poor footwork, and considering Williams is a free agent, Wellman could be slotted onto the team and provide them with the type of pressure we have seen from teams like Montreal.

McCall set a Canada West record for career interceptions, but if there is a knock against him, it’s his speed. If McCall can be slotted into the right position, perhaps back-up safety, or perhaps at linebacker, he can make a contribution, but this will be something that will have to wait until training camp to see if McCall can take the next step.

Solomon is an interesting case because while he is talented and a fast receiver, he is consistent because mentally he doesn’t keep his head in the game and understand the playbook. This past season with the Rams, playing with Marc Mueller (the grandson of Ron Lancaster) may have taught him some things about proper preparation and keeping your head in practice and the game. If Solomon has grown up, he does improve our Canadian receiving depth, especially if Rob Bagg doesn’t come back from another knee injury.