It’s been a much quieter season for Craig Dickenson working behind the scenes for the Calgary Stampeders.
“The reality is when you’re not the head coach anymore, people don’t really want to hear what you have to say. It’s been refreshing and I haven’t minded it a bit. I’ve been able to focus on coaching football and diving into film,” Dickenson told Rider Radio on 620 CKRM.
After the Saskatchewan Roughriders decided not to renew his contract following the 2023 season, the 53-year-old secured a job as a senior consultant in Cowtown. Dickenson was asked what exactly a senior consultant does within his role.
“The better question would be: ‘What doesn’t he do?’ I make the coffee in the morning when I first show up. I make sure there’s enough footballs on the field for each individual drill. I go scout NFL players and take a look at them. I help my brother in game situations — when to challenge and when to not — or help with personnel. I say that kind of tongue-in-cheek,” Dickenson said.
“It’s really a very broad job and it’s exactly what I wanted. I wanted to be involved in all phases of football. I think it helps me down the road with future head coaching opportunities because I’ve really got a chance to wear that GM hat or at least do some of the GM responsibilities when it comes to personnel and looking at players and trying to get them up here.”
During his first two seasons with the Riders, Dickenson guided the Green and White to a 22-10 regular season record, earning first place in the West Division in 2019 and second place in 2021. Saskatchewan lost in the West Final both those years to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In his last two years, the Roughriders posted matching 6-12 records, including an 0-14 mark post-Labour Day Classic, while missing the postseason.
“I have no regrets about my time in Saskatchewan. Would I have done things a little differently? Maybe, but it’s a team and I’m one voice. Jeremy O’Day’s another voice, Kyle Carson’s another voice, Craig Reynolds is another voice. The reality is it takes a village to raise a child and it takes a village, really, to win football championships,” Dickenson said.
“I felt like the coaching staff, we did the best we could. We didn’t win enough games, and at the end of the year, the coaches will be evaluated on that. It’s management’s prerogative and certainly their decision if they want to go a different route, but I have no regrets whatsoever. I respect that decision and don’t have any ill will towards that organization at all. ”
Dickenson was seen on TSN sharing pleasantries with people from the Riders prior to Saskatchewan’s 37-29 win at McMahon Stadium. He talked to O’Day, special teams coordinator Kent Maugeri, who was with him for his entire tenure as head coach in Riderville, among others. Friday night was the first time his new team played against Saskatchewan since his departure as bench boss.
“They opted to go a different route and we know in football that happens all the time. I was the head coach there for five years, they were five good years and, even before that, I was there for a long time as a special teams coordinator,” Dickenson said.
“I’ve got a lot of loyalty and a lot of respect and a lot of love for everybody out there — Rider Nation was very good to me. Hopefully, they feel like I represented them well and they were proud of the work we did when we were there.”
“I do feel like I’ve learned a lot in my time there as the head coach and I think in my next opportunity, I’ll put some of those lessons to use. I think I’ll be even better than I was the first time.”
Corey Mace was hired as the Riders’ head coach in November after winning Grey Cups with the Calgary Stampeders and Toronto Argonauts as an assistant coach. With all due respect, those two markets are completely different from being the top man everyone looks to in Rider Nation. From what Dickenson has seen and heard, he believes Mace has a “pretty good handle” on conducting himself in Riderville.
“The reality is you’re going to be recognized and you do the best you can to say hello to people when they stop you. I think Corey knows that and he embraces that, but it’s still football. You’ve still got to show up each day, go into the office, put your hard hat on and get to work,” Dickenson said.
“The support of Rider Nation is outstanding. People want you to succeed and if you do struggle, they’re certainly not happy about it but I never felt like there was any sort of animosity or anything like that. We did the best we could, we didn’t win enough games. Any organization in pro sports, if you don’t win enough games, you’re liable to not come back and the Riders were no different.”
Dickenson has coached or been employed in professional football consistently since 2000. He’s worked for the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders in the NFL. In the CFL, the Great Falls, Mon. native has been with Montreal, Winnipeg, and Edmonton plus Saskatchewan and Calgary. Dickenson wanted to work in the West Division in 2024 to be close to family, but he’s open to almost anything after this season.
“I would like to be a head coach again and if that happens, great. If it does not, I want to coach. Whether that be in the U.S., I’ve still got some NFL contacts and I know there’ll be some jobs next year. I enjoy college football immensely. I still know enough people down in the States and the NCAA there might be an opportunity there or up in Canada,” the coaching lifer said.
“I’d certainly like another crack at a head opportunity because I feel like what I’ve learned, specifically these last five years, is really going to help me moving forward. I always felt like I had a pretty good grasp of the big picture in terms of how to build a team out of your foundational pillars of what you want to be known for. I feel like I’ve got a really good handle on the ratio.”
“I love this league and this league has been my home for 20 years now. The lifestyle, the style of play, and the sort of players that you want up here, I think I’ve got a really good handle on that. I think I can look at a player and say that guy’s going to translate in the CFL. I think I can look at a player and say his skill set maybe won’t translate as well.”
Prior to becoming a head coach, Dickenson was a respected special teams coordinator in the CFL, winning two Grey Cups in that role in 2008 and 2015. He believes there’s been a lot learned from his time in the three-down league, especially as a head coach in Saskatchewan.
“I hope to get back in that chair one more time before it’s all said and done. I feel like I’m still relatively young and I bring a lot of good stuff to the table,” Dickenson said. “I’m hoping to get another opportunity somewhere else. You’re never too old to learn new ways of doing things and I think experience is the greatest teacher of all.”
