NAYLOR: RIDERS DENIED PERMISSION TO INTERVIEW ELIZONDO

Photo: The Morden Times

TSN'S Dave Naylor reported on Saturday the Saskatchewan Roughriders asked for - but were denied - permission to speak with Ottawa RedBlacks offensive coordinator Jamie Elizondo about their vacant head coaching job.

Elizondo made 3DownNation's list of six of the top candidates to replace Chris Jones on Saskatchewan's sidelines, but is now obviously off of that list. The Mexico product is highly-regarded as a coordinator in the CFL and has prior stops in Toronto and Montreal as well as Columbia University and Syracuse.

However the request to speak with Elizondo was a curious one to this blogger. It's fairly well-known that whomever is the Roughriders' next head coach, he'll inherit Chris Jones' staff. That staff was announced 10 days ago and with the new salary cap on CFL football operations, there's no way the new Riders coach will be able to make significant changes.

Not to mention, if it's an offensive-minded coach like Paul LaPolice or Marc Trestman, would their philosophies and concepts mesh with current Riders O.C. Stephen McAdoo? Very likely not.

Dickenson and me in Vero Beach, FL in 2017

So for that reason, my prediction is that the next head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders will be current Riders special teams coordinator Craig Dickenson.

The Great Falls, MT product is the perfect choice for a host of reasons:

1) He's already on staff.

2) It eliminates the headache of replacing current assistant coaches.

3) He aspires to be a CFL head coach in the right situation one day and this is it.

4) Chris Jones has built a culture here (for sure his own but it's a winning one) and Dickenson has been lock-step in that movement.

5) Dickenson is universally liked and respected (even loved) in the Rider locker room and his transition into the head coach's office would be a seamless one.

Stay tuned,
RP
@rodpedersen

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