Riders leaning toward Buck Pierce for head-coaching job: Dunk

Reports say Buck Pierce is the clubhouse leader when it comes to who will be the next head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

3DownNation’s Justin Dunk, The Green Zone’s CFL analyst, said a deal hasn’t been signed, but there are indications the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ offensive co-ordinator could be offered the job.

“If you talk to people around the league and close to the situation in Regina and in Riderville, that seems to be the way it is leaning, at least right now,” Dunk said on The Green Zone on Tuesday.

Pierce, a 42-year-old product of Hutchinson, Kan., came to the CFL in 2005 when he signed with the B.C. Lions. The quarterback spent five seasons in Vancouver before signing with the Bombers in April of 2010.

After three-plus seasons there, he was traded back to B.C., but retired in March of 2014.

Three days after that announcement, he joined the Bombers’ coaching staff. He was named their offensive co-ordinator in 2020.

Pierce is a three-time Grey Cup champion, winning as a player in 2006 and as a coach in 2019 and ’21.

On Monday, Dunk reported the search had come down to Pierce or Toronto Argonauts defensive co-ordinator Corey Mace.

“It does seem like the Riders want to go offensive here and that is one of those signs,” Dunk said. “Yes, Mace’s offensive co-ordinator would be Marc Mueller but it didn’t seem Rider Nation liked the idea of that because Mueller was calling the plays early last year in Calgary and then (head coach Dave) Dickenson took that back.”

Mueller, a product of Regina who played quarterback for the University of Regina Rams, is the Calgary Stampeders’ quarterbacks coach. A grandson of Roughriders legend Ron Lancaster, Mueller handled some play-calling duties for Calgary last season.

If Pierce is named the Riders’ next head coach, it would be his first job as a CFL head coach. Dunk said that in order to make the jump, Pierce will need to focus on aspects that affect the entire team and not just on one side of the ball.

“He needs to manage the game. He needs to make sure he is leading this entire group first and foremost and not just focus on the offensive side of the ball,” Dunk said.

“I don’t think Pierce is going to (focus on the offence). I think he has been very meticulous in the way he has approached even interviewing for this position. He has turned down head-coach interviews in the past and he wants to make sure he is ready and, more importantly, that his family is ready.

“He really wanted to learn as a coach. He told me at Grey Cup he wasn’t in a hurry to go as fast as he could from an intern or entry-level position to being a head coach. He wanted to be sure he was ready and there were things that he would feel confident about going into this role.”

Pierce and the Bombers lost 28-24 to the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup game.

The Riders have been searching for a head coach since electing not to sign Craig Dickenson to a contract extension after a second straight 6-12 season in 2023.