Opinion: Riders-Elks matchup a referendum on Craig Dickenson vs. Chris Jones

No two head coaches in the Canadian Football League are compared more often today than Saskatchewan’s Craig Dickenson and Edmonton’s Chris Jones. To some extent, the Riders have lived in Jones’ shadow since the 56-year-old left the team following the 2018 season. It was Jones who oversaw a much-needed rebuild before escorting a young Roughriders team into its brand-new home of Mosaic Stadium. Jones was given a lucrative contract and seemingly limitless power to get the Riders back into contention. Back-to-back winning records and consistent improvement over the final two years of his tenure led some Riders fans to suggest that it was he, and not Dickenson or general manager Jeremy O’Day, who deserved the credit for the club’s first-place finish in 2019. How could you blame anyone for thinking Chris Jones laid the foundation that others capitalized on after he skipped town? It was Jones who brought Dickenson, the man who would succeed him, back to Saskatchewan in the first place. The defence still had Chris Jones’ fingerprints all over it, too. The stars on that side of the ball who wowed Rider Nation even after Jones departed included A.C. Leonard, Cameron Judge, Ed Gainey, and Nick Marshall. All were guided by defensive coordinator Jason Shivers, a man who Jones groomed for three seasons to take on the role. [metabet_core_odds_board query=”531008″ site_id=”3downnation”] After the Roughriders made it to the West Final twice in the two seasons following Jones’ departure, it drove some to wonder if last year’s team crumbled so spectacularly because the foundation Jones built had deteriorated. Last year, Saskatchewan looked like an aging roster suffering from erosion and neglect. It almost appeared to be rotting from the inside. It got so bad last season that rumblings about a rift between “Jones guys” and “O’Day-Dickenson guys” began to emerge. Jones’ people were supposedly losing confidence in the current regime while the Riders’ front office was starting to lose confidence in some of the long-term employees who had originally joined the team under Jones. The offensive line coughed up a league-record 77 quarterback sacks, which cost offensive line coach Stephen Sorrells, who was brought to the team by Jones, his job. Sorrells never indicated there was any type of rift with the current Riders’ brass but seemed more than happy to rejoin his old boss in Edmonton. Shaq Evans, Kyran Moore, and A.C. Leonard (all Chris Jones recruits) weren’t brought back for this season. Moore and Leonard reunited with Jones in Edmonton, while Evans took his talents to Ottawa. Jones didn’t deserve any blame for Saskatchewan’s dismal 6-12 failure last year, but he could take credit for the roster he built that propelled the Green and White to some moderately successful heights in 2019 and 2021. It was offensive coordinator Stephen McAdoo, another Jones recruit, who helped turn a career backup in Cody Fajardo into a viable starting quarterback. But unlike in 2019 and 2021, Jones can’t take that credit if the Riders make a run at a championship this year. Just seven players remain from Chris Jones’ time with the franchise and that list includes offensive lineman Philip Blake and linebacker Derrick Moncrief, two players who left the team and were later brought back by the Dickenson-O’Day regime. The remnants of the defence Jones built can still be found in Regina but barely. Defensive back Nick Marshall and Canadian linebacker Micah Teitz are the only holdovers from Jones’ run who remain as starters. [n-cta id=draftkings-sportsbook-on] Things have come full circle as in Sunday’s season opener, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will truly represent a reflection of what Dickenson and O’Day have created them to be. Good, bad or otherwise, this is their team now. In year two of Chris Jones’ rebuild in Edmonton, we’re about to find out if he really is the football genius many believe him to be. If the Elks flop, he could go down as just another football coach who caught some early waves before his act got old and he wore out his welcome. It’s unlikely that either side will toss out jabs or admit to any sort of rivalry ahead of their three matchups this season. However, between Jones’ criticism of Saskatchewan after they dumped McAdoo, his Tiger Woods-sized fist pump after the Elks stopped the Riders on third-and-one at Mosaic last year (which TSN’s cameras inexplicably missed), Dickenson’s down-trodden facial expression when Justin Dunk asked him about it, and the cascade of staff and players who have made their way to Edmonton to rejoin their old boss, there is ample evidence that a heated rivalry is bubbling beneath the surface between these two teams and in particular, these two head coaches. Best of all, they will both deserve full credit and full blame for the outcomes against each other this season. Sunday’s game will be the first proper measuring stick to answer the question of who the better football coach is.