THROWIN’ ELBOWS WITH BRENDAN MCGUIRE

1. DICKENSON WINS WAR OF ATTRITION: Make no mistake in that Craig Dickenson is ready to be a CFL head coach. 24 years of college and pro football coaching experience for someone in his late 40’s has more than readied him for this, despite his lack of coordinator experience on either the offensive or defensive side of the ball.

But let’s be real about this. Craig Dickenson was, at most, plan D for the Riders.

If he had been CEO Craig Reynolds’ first choice, the team wouldn’t have announced Chris Jones was returning for 2019 some two weeks ago. Had Dickie even been the Riders’ 2nd or third choice, new GM Jeremy O’Day wouldn’t have reached out to Winnipeg for permission to interview Paul LaPolice or Ottawa to interview Jaime Elizondo.

The rest were very unappealing choices, such as maligned OC Stephen McAdoo and former B.C./Edmonton firee Mike Benevides.

The Riders were in scramble mode and Craig Dickenson provided a soft landing spot. He was the most tenable option left. Not a bad hire by any means but it’s clear today the biggest reason he gets to be a head coach is because he was the best of a bad bunch.


2. CHRIS JONES FLIRTING WITH ATLANTIC SCHOONERS: Justin Dunk’s 3DownNation report that Chris Jones was applying to every open football job on the continent doesn’t make any sense. Why would Chris Jones chase after the head of football operations job for the new Halifax franchise when he effectively had that job in Regina? Was this non-existent franchise with a non-existent stadium going to top his reported $600k/year salary that he was earning from the Riders?

Sorry Dunk but this insider report of yours doesn’t added up.


3. HARRIS NOT COMING TO ‘306’: Dunk also suggested the Riders could have an ‘in’ with free agent-to-be quarterback Trevor Harris since both Harris and new Rider GM Jeremy O’Day went to the same small Division II school in Pennsylvania.

They played there a full decade apart from one another. Is that really a connection?

It is late January so 3DownNation can be forgiven for digging on a slow news day.


4. THIN QB MARKET NOT HELPING DURANT: The Riders should avoid Jonathon Jennings like the plague. Regardless, the B.C. Lion free agent quarterback will find a job somewhere. There just aren’t many good options out there. The same can’t be said for Darian Durant who appears to be striking out in his self-proclaimed comeback bid. If no-one signs him this offseason then Darian’s career, whether he likes it or not, truly is finished.

5. ANOTHER REASON WHY COACHING CAP A GOOD THING: Assistant coaches rarely get any job security. The cap will force teams to offer multi-year deals as incentive to sign and work in Canada. This will push organizations to be patient with their coaches and treat them with respect while perhaps slowing the revolving door we see with pro football coaching staffs today.


6. TO EVERYONE STILL WHINING ABOUT MISSED CALL IN NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: No interference call would’ve guaranteed a Saints win anyway. Get over it. I’d rather have the odd missed call than the amount of pass interference review we still have to sit through in the CFL. Time to throw that out.


7. REGINA RED SOX: Checked out the new offices at Leibel Field Monday night. Pretty sweet to be talking baseball already and take our minds off the bone-chilling cold. Lots of exciting stuff coming down the pipe for 2019. #isitmayyet?


8. REGINA PATS: Haven’t been winning much at all in the new year but look a lot more competitive and entertaining than they did in the fall of 2018. Austin Pratt has turned into a true soldier and should be wearing the “C”. Riley Krane has stepped up as the diamond in the rough and should give this squad a real kick going into next season. I expect this throw-away season and short-term-pain-for-long-term-gain to be over real soon.


9. PATS SHOULD TRADE GOALIE: Lots of teams should be interested this offseason (the Prince Albert Raiders for one) in both Max Paddock and Dean McNabb. It would be a perfect way to bulk up for the future. We’ve always known Paddock can do it on his own and lately, McNabb has been proving that he’s more than ready to carry the load between the pipes.


10. HUMBOLDT CRASH TRUCK DRIVER: Please let this be over. The poor guy and everyone else have suffered enough.


(Follow Brendan on Twitter at @brendanhowardmc)