Toronto Argonauts hoping Ryan Dinwiddie’s experience makes him ideal head coach

The Toronto Argonauts have decided to hire Ryan Dinwiddie to replace Corey Chamblin as head coach and will be looking to his offensive pedigree to turn things around.

After weeks of wondering if the Toronto Argonauts would be making a change at the head coach position, they decided to pull the trigger and fire Corey Chamblin and replace him with Ryan Dinwiddie.

The news certainly comes as a surprise considering there were rumours not too long ago suggesting that the Argos were planning on retaining Chamblin. Clearly, their meeting with Dinwiddie went really well and felt it was necessary to get Dinwiddie when he was available.

The 39-year-old has extensive experience as a CFL assistant coach starting with the Montreal Alouettes before joining the Calgary Stampeders where he has spent the past few years as the quarterback’s coach. In that time he has worked with many quarterbacks including Bo Levi Mitchell who is one of the top QBs in the league and backups like Drew Tate and Nick Arbuckle.

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It’s no secret that the Argos have struggled to find a quarterback that can provide the stability Rick Ray did and they were going to make that position a priority in the off-season. You might also recall when Bill Manning said during Michael “Pinball” Clemons and John Murphy’s press conference that he wanted to try to model how the Calgary Stampeders operated.

Getting a coach who has the experience on the offensive side of the ball is certainly crucial considering how much the Argos’ offence has struggled. It’s also crucial to have someone that might be able to attract a free agent who has a strong reputation around the league too.

Considering the number of free-agent quarterbacks that are available, Dinwiddie can be a big selling point considering his experience. It also doesn’t hurt that Arbuckle is a pending free agent and could be enticed to join his former coach in Toronto although he also has a workout scheduled in the NFL with the New York Giants.

Clemons pointed to Dinwiddie’s experience as both a player, coach and family as a factor in their decision to hire him.

"“His exhaustive passion to prepare to win makes him a priority in setting our new culture,” said Clemons. “The former CFL QB is the son of a coach, smart and hard working with a winning pedigree.”"

That will be the next question along with who the team wants to bring in as coordinators although they have to be wary of the coaching cap. Chamblin still had two more years left on his deal so that’s something the team will have to figure out but they also didn’t have a lot of commitments outside of their head coach.

What this also speaks to is how much thought the organization put into this decision considering they were one of the last teams to make a coaching change. Last season left a sour taste in the mouth of the players and fans who have been hoping for some sort of progress towards becoming a consistent contender.

What do you think about the decision to make the coaching change? Let us know in the comments below.