Riders promote Craig Dickenson to head coach

REGINA — It hasn’t taken long for the Saskatchewan Roughriders to find their new sideline boss.  Promoting within, the Riders announced Friday that Craig Dickenson has been elevated from Special Teams Coordinator to head coach.  Dickenson will retain the special teams duties.

His contract, like Jeremy O’Day’s will run through 2021.

Dickenson takes over after Chris Jones announced his resignation as GM, head coach and defensive coordinator just over a week ago to take a job with the Cleveland Browns.

“I am excited and honoured to announce Craig Dickenson as the Riders head coach,” stated O’Day. “Craig is extremely respected by our players and staff. His dedication, intelligence and leadership will be an integral part of our future success.”

Last week, the club addressed the vacant General Manager spot by promoting O’Day who entered his second tenure as the Riders’ GM after he was named the franchises 15th GM on Aug. 31, 2015 – a positional he held on an interim basis for the final nine games of that season.

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» Watch Craig Dickenson press conference in its entirety

“I want to thank Jeremy O’Day and the Saskatchewan Roughriders for giving me this great opportunity,” stated Dickenson. “It is a great honour to be the head coach of this storied franchise. I look forward to working with this talented group of players and coaches moving forward.”

Dickenson will enter his fourth season of his second go-round with the Roughriders, spending the last three seasons as the special-teams coordinator. He also previously worked with the Riders special teams during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Before joining the Riders in 2016, the 47-year-old Dickenson spent time coaching with the Calgary Stampeders (2002, 2004-2009), Montreal Alouettes (2003), Saskatchewan (2011-2012), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2013) and Edmonton Eskimos (2014-2015). He also coached for a season in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders in 2010.

As the Calgary Stampeders special teams coordinator in 2008, Dickenson won a Grey Cup. He also won the Grey Cup with the Edmonton Eskimos in 2015 in the same role.