Jamie Nye: Riders never seem rattled, like their coach

They say a team takes on the identity of its head coach. Earlier in the season, many in Saskatchewan questioned if Craig Dickenson was too nice.

Well, this week, Dickenson ramped up the message to the Saskatchewan Roughriders of what kind of opportunity sat in front of them. He said to throw away the nine-win regular season because all that matters is if you win right now.

And you know what? The Riders have taken on the personality of their head coach, as a team that seemingly can’t be rattled.

Craig Dickenson is one of the most level-headed people in the game and the Riders are playing with the right mindset because it seems nothing rattles them either.

They take bad penalties, turn over the ball, drop passes or blow a coverage but they never let it derail their mission.

And then on Sunday, Dickenson calls a gutsy onside kick to start the second half. The team executes it perfectly and took control of the game.

The reason the Riders are going to the West Division final is credit to a coach who has had his players’ back every single day and they repay him with relentless effort and resiliency as they did to beat Calgary on Sunday.