Riders End Year with Nary a Whisper

So the great BC-SK coaching trade is currently at a standstill.

After hiring former BC offensive coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine, the Riders had offered a coordinator position to former BC head coach Mike Benevedes and quarterback coach to Khari Jones, who had that spot two years ago here.

Now it seems Benevedes family who live on the coast may have glimpsed the -28 temperatures and said he will make a decision early in the New Year. Jones will stay in BC apparently as it looks like George Cortez will be hired as offensive coordinator. Jones will stay as QB coach and that begs the question: if Cortez was so bad to work with as the Riders were quietly spinning, then why would he choose to work under him rather than escape back to Saskatchewan?

Ah, questions that will never be asked, never mind answered, at least publicly by Rider personnel. If I had to post odds, I’d say that Rider Head Coach Cory Chamblin will take over the defense because despite being a head coach, Chamblin fancies himself a defensive coordinator, although his previous stint in Hamilton had nothing to recommend him to it.

A head coach is supposed to look after all facets of a football team, not just concentrate on one and pass off responsibility for the others. If Chamblin is such a micro-manager, he may reveal himself to be a good defensive coordinator, but if he has no thoughts about the offense, then are we in store for more unimaginative play calling and inability to develop players into starters?

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The Riders big signing was Jamal Richardson, the slotback who started his career here, went south, went to Montreal, blew out a knee and sat out last year. Richardson says his knee has recovered, but the proof will come in training camp.

On the one hand, this is a good low risk high reward signing. Richardson couldn’t catch on with Edmonton or Calgary last year and if he can contribute, then the Riders have a tall target to lob passes to the back of the end zone to. But considering the shellacking the Riders have taken over their recruiting, signing a near invalid to a contract reveals certain desperation.

But, and there is always a but to this situation. Richardson’s stablemate in Montreal, S.J. Green, just turned down the latest contract offer from that club. Green may be in line for the $200-$250 K Ottawa may throw his way, but if Richardson convinces him to come to Saskatchewan, SJ Green and Weston Dressler can inflict some damage on defenses if they can make the dollars work.

Speaking of Dressler, it appears he sat in on Chapdelaine’s interview to look over his plans for the offense. Slot backs appear to do well in this system at least that is what Geroy Simon has been saying, so Dressler resigning in Saskatchewan appears to be something that will come out sooner rather than later.

The Riders may not be sure as to the status of Ben Heenan, who may want to try the NFL along with U of R Ram and Calgary Stampeder Brett Jones. Jones already has worked out for a few NFL teams and has the skills to make it to the NFL.

Would Jones come to Saskatchewan if he fails to make it in the show? That is an interesting question because rumor mongers around Jones say he is less than impressed with Rider fans taking it for granted he would come back to Regina. If Jones goes to the States, he would not be available to the CFL if he doesn’t make it until Labour Day. At that point, if Brendon LaBatte can’t talk him into giving the Riders a try, then no one can.

Whether Heenan gets a bite from the States is an interesting question. Physically there seems to be no problem but when you look at the film, Heenan was inconsistent, depending on what position he was playing. Heenan would be back earlier if he got an NFL shot. Overall, considering Heenan has a farm near Regina, it would be safe to say he would sign here, but if he goes, the Rider offensive line will need some tinkering to finally determine which back-ups are ready to step forward.

The Riders have free agent camps going stateside in January. On January 10th they are in Las Vegas; on January 11 in Phoenix; January 17 in Las Angeles and January 18th in San Jose. I would assume they will also hold camps in the south and on the east coast. The players will pay a fee of $100 for the opportunity to try to impress the Rider scouts and coaching staff. I would imagine that whoever makes it through this process gets invited to the Rider weekend in Florida where the whole team will show up and not just rookies this year. Well, it’s a start.

Bob Dyce appears to have kept his job as a special teams coordinator, having successfully argued that having almost every Canadian injured resulted in teams running a punt in for a touchdown once a week. There is something to Dyce’s argument, but what was disappointing was no kicking coach added to work with the place kicker and punter. These people are like golfers and you need someone who can talk to them in their own language and the Riders haven’t figured that out yet.

So with the Riders not having finalized their coaching staff, and Richie Hall talking to Winnipeg, there is no real sense of urgency in Riderville. It is the holidays, it is the college bowl season where every player is under the spotlight, and the Riders haven’t unveiled how they will approach scouting in a more effective way other than the free agent camps.

It would be nice to know there is a plan, because if there isn’t, 2015 will get ugly really fast.