Dickenson out as Riders’ head coach, O’Day signs extension

Craig Dickenson will not return as head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The CFL team announced Monday that it won’t renew Dickenson’s contract after it expires at the end of this season.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have announced that Head Coach Craig Dickenson will not have his contract renewed.

Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Jeremy O’Day has agreed to a new contract.

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— Saskatchewan Roughriders (@sskroughriders) October 23, 2023

Dickenson was head coach of the Roughriders for five seasons, including the 2020 campaign that was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Saskatchewan posted a 34-34-0 regular-season record under Dickenson and reached the playoffs — and the West Division final — in each of his first two seasons. The Roughriders went 6-12-0 in each of the past two campaigns and missed the playoffs both years.

Meanwhile, the team also announced that Jeremy O’Day — the Roughriders’ vice-president of football operations and general manager — has signed a new contract.

O’Day and Roughriders president-CEO Craig Reynolds are to meet with the media Monday.

Moving on from Dickenson

Dickenson was named the Roughriders’ head coach in January of 2019 after Chris Jones left the CFL to join the coaching staff of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns.

Dickenson had been Saskatchewan’s special-teams co-ordinator in 2011 and 2012 before serving in that capacity again from 2016 through ’18.

In his first season as head coach, the Roughriders went 13-5-0 and finished in first place in the West Division. Saskatchewan lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West final.

After the 2020 season was cancelled, Dickenson led the Roughriders to a 9-5-0 record and second place in the West in 2021. They again advanced to the West final and, again, lost to Winnipeg.

A seven-game losing streak to end the 2022 regular season doomed Saskatchewan to a fourth-place finish in the West.

Despite the downturn from the previous season, Dickenson and O’Day were retained for 2023 to complete the final year of their contracts.

This season, an injury to veteran quarterback Trevor Harris forced the Roughriders to go with young QBs Mason Fine and Jake Dolegala. Saskatchewan again suffered seven straight losses to end the regular season — including Saturday’s 29-26 loss to the Toronto Argonauts — and again missed the playoffs.

“I want to thank Coach Dickenson for everything he has given to the Saskatchewan Roughriders over his 10 years in Green and White,” O’Day said in a media release.

“From his time as special teams co-ordinator to his five seasons as a head coach, he gave all he had to the team and did it with kindness and respect. We appreciate his hard work and dedication and wish him all the best moving forward.”

Continuing on with O’Day

O’Day will be entering his 26th season with the Roughriders in 2024 and his sixth as vice-president of football operations and GM.

He began his Roughriders career as a player in 1999 and joined the football operations staff in 2011. He was promoted to his current role in January of 2019 after Jones’ departure.

“Jeremy has an excellent track record of identifying and bringing in quality talent to the Saskatchewan Roughriders with many players having gone on to have successful seasons including two 1,000-yard receivers in 2023,” Reynolds said in the release.

“I am confident in his ability to find the next great head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and to put together a team Rider Nation can be proud of.”

O’Day has won two Grey Cups in Saskatchewan — one as a player in 2007 and one as assistant GM in 2013.

More to come.