Coaching search takes next step
Teams from the University of Regina compete regularly with their counterparts from the University of Calgary in various sports.
Right now, the schools may be competing for a football coach.
The U of R is searching for a replacement for Frank McCrystal, whose retirement as the Rams’ head coach is to take effect Dec. 31.
Meanwhile, the U of C is seeking a successor to Blake Nill, who resigned as the Dinos’ head coach Monday to take the same job with the UBC Thunderbirds.
On Friday, Harold Riemer — the dean of the U of R’s faculty of kinesiology and health studies and the head of the coaching search committee — admitted it’s a possibility that the two searches may overlap.
But he vowed that won’t impact Regina’s hunt for a new coach.
“You never know what people have applied for,” Riemer said. “If there were a couple of positions open that I’d be interested in, I’d apply to both — or three of them or four of them — and then see what happens.
“Being earlier (than Calgary) in the process is always a good thing, but at the end of the day, I want someone who wants to come here.”
As Riemer pointed out, the choice will lie with the coach if he gets one offer and the other school subsequently makes an offer.
“Ultimately, the candidate is going to have to decide: Is a bird in the hand worth more than one in the bush?” Riemer said.
The U of R — which started accepting applications several weeks ago — took the next step in the process Thursday, when the six-person hiring committee interviewed Rams defensive coordinator Paul Dawson.
Dawson declined to comment Friday, but Riemer confirmed the veteran assistant coach had been interviewed. Four unidentified candidates are to meet the committee next week.
“THE ASSUMPTION THAT PEOPLE SOMETIMES MAKE IS THAT
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES WHO ARE BECOMING AVAILABLE NOW ARE SOMEHOW BETTER THAN THE ONES THAT WE HAVE IN THE MIX.” HAROLD RIEMER
Teams across the CFL are in the process of making changes to their coaching staffs, so there’s a possibility the U of R may receive more applications — especially since the job posting remains open.
Riemer said the committee would examine such applications “on a case-by-case basis,” but the members of the committee are eager to see how the four scheduled interviews go before adding any other candidates.
“The assumption that people sometimes make is that potential candidates who are becoming available now are somehow better than the ones that we have in the mix,” Riemer said. “I’m not sure that’s a fair assumption.
“We’re really happy with the group that we’re bringing in and we think that, in this mix, there’s at least one that we’ll be really happy with — and I suspect there will be more than one.”
Each of the candidates is to meet members of the Rams executive for breakfast. The applicant then has an interview and makes a presentation to the search committee before making another presentation to interested observers from the university community.
“It went quite well (Thursday),” Riemer said of the session with folks from around the U of R.
“We had a lot of people show up. More than we anticipated. More than what usually show up for a (similar event for a new) dean!”
Each applicant also has a one-on-one meeting with interim athletic director Curtis Atkinson, as well as chats with Riemer’s leadership team in the KHS faculty and with the school’s other coaches.
A dinner with the search committee wraps up the day.
“They’re getting poked and prodded pretty good,” Riemer said.
After the current five candidates go through the process, the members of the hiring committee will meet to discuss their findings.
“The goal is to come out of that meeting with a rank ordering,” said Riemer, who noted a discussion with the Rams’ directors and reference checks will follow.
“In my ideal world, we’d be comfortable with all five of them.”