Jamie Nye: Roughriders’ coaching search has come at a perfect time

Column

Timing is everything.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ coaching search couldn’t have come at a better time.

They’re the only CFL team looking for a head coach, which allows them to have the pick of the litter.

Last off-season, the Montreal Alouettes and Ottawa Redblacks were going through a search for a head coach. While many wanted the Roughriders to as well, it would have been a much more interesting process having to battle with two other teams to find the best candidate.

Mind you, they wouldn’t have been in on Jason Maas, although in retrospect they likely should have been.

But in 2023, the Roughriders have zero competition.

After going 0-14 down the stretch over the past two seasons, a lack of competition is quite welcoming around Riderville.

So the Riders have been able to take their time rather than racing other organizations to ensure they have their top candidate coming to Saskatchewan to replace Craig Dickenson.

First up was Scott Milanovich.

The most veteran and proven coach available was quickly discarded. Green Zone CFL analyst Justin Dunk told me on the show that Milanovich wanted more money and more power and had little interest in spending much more time in Saskatchewan than would be essential to coach the football team.

If you’re not going to buy in to a community-owned team and be a part of the community, that’s not going to work.

That brings us to Corey Mace and Buck Pierce, two coaches whose ascension in the coaching ranks have nearly paralleled each other.

Mace and Pierce both quickly joined the coaching ranks after their careers and proved themselves well in their roles as positional coaches before becoming co-ordinators — Mace on defence and Pierce on offence.

And now both are regarded as the next in line to become quality head coaches in the CFL.

Mace helped the Toronto Argonauts’ defence become one of the best in the league and followed up a Grey Cup championship in 2022 with a defence that locked things down on its way to a 16-2-0 record in 2023.

Pierce took over from Paul LaPolice in Winnipeg as the Blue Bombers’ offensive co-ordinator and coached Zach Collaros to back-to-back Most Outstanding Player seasons, a Grey Cup championship and two more Grey Cup appearances. The team has also seen young players like Brady Oliveira and Dalton Schoen become household names across the CFL.

In any other year, the Riders would be fighting another team (or two) for the ability to hire one of these two coaches.

Instead, they will soon choose who they like the best and who fits with general manager Jeremy O’Day and his vision on how to get the Roughriders back to contender status.

I’ve heard the word “settle” when it comes to these two coaches because Milanovich and O’Day weren’t a match. “Settle” is the last word I’d use to describe the final two candidates for the Roughriders.

Qualified, smart, passionate and accountable are among the adjectives those around the CFL have used to describe the Roughriders’ finalists.

More importantly to me, they come from winning teams with winning cultures — two things the Roughriders need most!