It didn’t take long for Bob Dyce to find a new CFL coaching job.
Just days after his office was cleaned out for him in Regina, Sportsnet has learned that the former Saskatchewan Roughriders interim head coach will be the new special teams coordinator of the Ottawa Redblacks.
Dyce had run the specials unit with the Riders before being elevated to the head-coaching role on Aug. 31. It is believed Dyce has signed a two-year contract with Ottawa.
A number of factors make the Dyce hiring a good fit, mainly because he and Ottawa head coach Rick Campbell had previously spent a season working together and that was six years ago, under Mike Kelly, in Winnipeg. Campbell then ran the Blue Bombers special teams, while Dyce was the receivers’ coach.
Campbell has on three occasions been a special teams coach in the CFL (Edmonton, Winnipeg and Edmonton again), which shows just how much respect he has in handpicking Dyce to run that side of the operation at Lansdowne Park.
There were options for Dyce to interview elsewhere: with Chuck McMann’s retirement in B.C., the Lions are in search of a special teams coordinator; and Paul LaPolice’s hiring as coordinator in Winnipeg may have opened up a spot on his offensive staff (or to run specials if Mike O’Shea relinquishes his duties to focus solely on the head coaching portfolio). As Sportsnet reported Friday, Toronto is in search of a special teams coordinator with the Argos not planning to bring back Scott Downing.
But the allure of working with the defending East Division champions, not to mention the security of a two-year deal, made the move to Ottawa a smart one for Dyce, who began speaking with Campbell not long after Chris Jones became the general manager and head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Dyce became a first-time head coach in the most unenviable of situations in 2015, following the firing of Corey Chamblin after a 0-9 start. While Dyce led the team to a 3-6 record in the second half of the season, he was dealing with a roster decimated by injury and an organization in full evaluation mode.
Dyce has coached in the CFL since 2003, and can help the Redblacks on the personnel side, having previously coordinated the Canadian College Draft in Winnipeg.
