Scott Milanovich is now the head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, though he wasn’t far from becoming the bench boss of a different CFL team this past off-season.
“I had legitimate interest (in becoming the head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders) and it got pretty far down the line. I never went to Regina for the second interview but we were a day away. I just felt like my home was gonna be in Hamilton,” Milanovich told the media via videoconference.
In many ways, Milanovich seemed like the perfect fit for the Riders. He coached franchise quarterback Trevor Harris for four seasons with the Toronto Argonauts and was supposed to work with him again in Edmonton in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Milanovich left for a coaching position with the Indianapolis Colts the following year, spoiling the reunion.
The 50-year-old native of Butler, Penn. claimed he pulled out of the running for the job in Saskatchewan without knowing if the position would be available in Steeltown. It remained unclear if the Tiger-Cats were going to need a new head coach as Orlondo Steinauer, who finished his fourth season in the role this past year, was deciding whether he’d continue or pivot to his other role as the team’s president of football operations.
“When I pulled out, I wasn’t guaranteed that I was gonna get the Hamilton job,” he said. “I knew there was a possibility there as [Steinauer] was talking about potentially making the move to just being the president but there was no guarantee made that I would be the guy that got it. I just wanted to be a part of that organization. My family lives three hours from Hamilton, it’s just a little better fit for me.”
Milanovich joined the Ticats as a senior assistant coach in 2023 and became the club’s offensive coordinator after the firing of Tommy Condell. He believes that having a year with the team already under his belt will help him hit the ground running in 2024 as the club looks to improve from back-to-back 8-10 seasons.
“I think it’s gonna be a great benefit for me just to have an idea of how the organization’s run, knowing the people in the building, having some relationships with the players — obviously more so on the offensive side than on the defensive side having come in halfway through the season. But definitely a step ahead of where I would have been otherwise,” said Milanovich.
Meanwhile, the Riders hired Corey Mace away from the Toronto Argonauts to become their new head coach. The 38-year-old from Port Moody, B.C. received compliments during his videoconference on Monday regarding how he looks in his new green digs.
In an alternate universe, Milanovich would have been sporting Saskatchewan green on Monday. And who knows? Mace might have been wearing black and gold.
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