O’Day, Dyce step up for Riders
Interim GM, coach named
The Saskatchewan Roughriders hope the air of familiarity surrounding their latest hires doesn’t mean business as usual.
Jeremy O’Day and Bob Dyce were officially introduced in their new roles on Tuesday, one day after Brendan Taman and Corey Chamblin were relieved of their duties.
O’Day replaces Taman as the CFL team’s vicepresident of football operations and general manager. Dyce takes over as the head coach from Chamblin. O’Day and Dyce were both named to their respective positions on an interim basis. The Riders will conduct a search for a general manager and head coach during the offseason.
The Riders looked within to replace Taman and Chamblin. O’Day was the assistant general manager and director of football operations while Dyce was the special-teams co-ordinator on a team that carries an 0-9 record into Sunday’s Labour Day Classic against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“I hold (some) responsibility for where we’re at right now and there isn’t any doubt about it,’’ O’Day said. “It’s never one guy … Two good men are out of a job, but it’s never one guy. Every one of us here played a role in what happened on the field.’’
Craig Reynolds, the Riders’ first-year president and CEO, expects a turnaround on the field with Dyce and O’Day. What had transpired up to Monday’s announcement just wasn’t good enough for the franchise.
“We expect a win on Sunday and to get back into the race,’’ Reynolds said. “We also need to build for the future for sustained success and that’s ultimately the goal. This club should be competing for first and second place year in and year out. We have the resources to do that and every opportunity to be successful here and that’s the goal. A win on Sunday is the first and foremost goal.’’
Sunday’s 35-13 loss to the Ottawa Redblacks was the final straw in terms of Taman and Chamblin’s time with the Riders.
Chamblin incurred the wrath of Rider Nation after inexplicably yanking rookie quarterback Brett Smith midway through the second quarter of Sunday’s loss. Except Reynolds said that wasn’t the reason for firing Chamblin.
“We had a belief that we were going to turn this around and we had belief in Corey,’’ Reynolds said. “We wanted to give him an opportunity to turn it around. After Sunday’s game, I would suggest the belief wasn’t there anymore and we needed to move in a different direction for the future.’’
Chamblin’s dismissal may have been expected considering the circumstances. It was expected Taman would survive the house cleaning and have a chance to rebuild. Reynolds cited concerns about salary-cap management and Taman’s leadership.
“The overall leadership of the football operations area is the No. 1 goal and responsibility of our vice-president of football operations and general manager,’’ Reynolds said. “We needed to be a bit stronger there. Some roster management and salary cap (moves) restricted some of the things we were able to do as an organization.’’
O’Day has been part of the Riders since 1999 as a player and member of football operations.
He retired in 2011 after 12 seasons on the offensive line, primarily as a centre. He was initially hired as football operations co-ordinator in 2011 by Taman.
Dyce is in his sixth season with the Riders. He started as the receivers coach in 2010 and was promoted to offensive co-ordinator in 2012.
He was then named the special-teams co-ordinator in 2013. Before joining the Riders, Dyce spent seven seasons as a receivers coach with the Blue Bombers. mmccormick @ leaderpost.com Twitter.com/murraylp