The Saskatchewan Roughriders' search for a new head coach is reportedly down to two candidates. (980 CJME file photo)

By Britton Gray, CKOM News Staff

Riders’ head-coaching search down to Mace, Pierce: Reports

Nov 28, 2023 | 1:15 PM

It appears the search for the next head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders has been narrowed down.

3DownNation’s Justin Dunk, The Green Zone’s CFL analyst, reported Monday that sources have indicated the search is down to two candidates: Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive co-ordinator Buck Pierce and Toronto Argonauts defensive co-ordinator Corey Mace.

The Riders’ head coach job is down to two, per sources: Corey Mace and Buck Pierce.#Saskatchewan #Riders #CFL
— Justin Dunk (@JDunk12) November 27, 2023

The Riders have been searching for a new bench boss after the team elected to not renew the contract of Craig Dickenson following a second straight 6-12-0 season. A seven-game losing streak saw Saskatchewan finish out of the CFL playoffs.

Dickenson had been the head coach since 2019, amassing a 34-34 record which including back-to-back CFL West Division final appearances in 2019 and 2021. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Hamilton Tiger-Cats offensive co-ordinator Scott Milanovich was also considered to be a top contender for the job.

Mace, a 37-year-old product of Port Moody, B.C., has been a CFL assistant coach since 2015.

As a player, Mace was drafted by the Bombers in the second round (11^th overall) of the 2007 CFL draft, shortly after he signed as a free agent with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

While he was in the NFL, his CFL rights were traded to the Tiger-Cats, the Argos and the Calgary Stampeders. After he was cut by Buffalo, Mace joined the Stamps in August of 2010.

A defensive lineman, Mace played 40 games with Calgary over six seasons and won a Grey Cup with the Stampeders in 2014. He retired in 2015 and immediately joined the Stamps’ coaching staff, and won the CFL title again in 2018.

He signed with the Argos as their defensive co-ordinator in January of 2022 and helped them win the Grey Cup that season.

Pierce, a 42-year-old product of Hutchinson, Kan., came to the CFL in 2005 when he signed with the B.C. Lions. The quarterback spent five seasons in Vancouver before signing with the Bombers in April of 2010.

After three-plus seasons there, he was traded back to B.C., but retired in March of 2014.

Three days after that announcement, he joined the Bombers’ coaching staff. He was named their offensive co-ordinator in 2020.

Pierce is a three-time Grey Cup champion, winning as a player in 2006 and as a coach in 2019 and ’21.