Riders begin life under interim head coach Bob Dyce

The new era has officially dawned for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The team practiced on Wednesday for the first time under interim head coach Bob Dyce after Corey Chamblin was fired on Monday night by the team.

“I’ve been here for six years; this team is a resilient team and a mentally strong team. It’s a challenging situation, obviously, it’s challenging on us coaches,” said Dyce.

“The mindset of these guys, the challenges and obstacles they’ve faced. Still, the energy and positivity they have at this time is absolutely amazing. I asked them to continue on with that because I believe good things are going to happen.”

“The mindset of these guys, the challenges and obstacles they’ve faced. Still, the energy and positivity they have at this time is absolutely amazing. I asked them to continue on with that because I believe good things are going to happen.” – Bob Dyce

It’s been a whirlwind couple of days for the team’s former special teams coordinator.

At this point, Dyce is still learning on the fly. That’s especially true on offence and defence where he’s getting up to speed.

“You’re looking at techniques and the energy level and you’re looking at how guys are individually executing. But, you’re not 100 per cent sure of the scheme. I’ll sit down in the coaches meetings and get a better feeling of what we’re doing,” he said.

Dyce is also learning how to pace out a practice.

When he was the special teams coordinator, he basically counted down the reps until it was time for special teams again.

“It wasn’t a matter of what (the offence and defence is) doing and how they’re executing it. It was different in that regards,” he said.

REQUEST HOUR

There was one very noticeable difference at practice on Wednesday – the introduction of music for a good portion of the day.

The players seemed to enjoy it, but there’s also a theory behind the move.

“There’s certain teams in the NFL that have their own DJ that is out there every day. These guys never play in quiet, stoic environments. There’s always distraction, there’s always noise,” said Dyce.

The music also allows for the players to figure out some things on their own as they might not always hear a coach and they will have to communicate with each other.

The tunes are also good to get the players going at the start of the day.

“We can’t let the music control our energy. Because if the music goes down, we have to stay up and stay hyped. That’s our job.”

PLAYERS THOUGHTS

It wasn’t only a new day for Dyce but it was a new beginning for the players as well.

“(We’re) just ready to move forward. We don’t really put too much emphasis on what happened,” said quarterback Brett Smith.

“(Jeremy O’Day) came in and addressed the team first. When he comes in there and addresses it. He says it’s like a fresh start and starting at square one, that’s really where we’re at right now,” said offensive lineman Brendon LaBatte.

Both Dyce and O’Day addressed the team Wednesday. Their message was that they can’t change the past but they can control their future. They also wanted everyone to know they believe in the group still.

Regardless of what’s happened in the past, the general feeling from the players is that’s time to move forward.

“(We’re) just ready to move forward. We don’t really put too much emphasis on what happened,” said quarterback Brett Smith.

NEWS AND NOTES

Defensive lineman Brendan Tennant will be out for a while with a shoulder injury, he was seen in a sling on Wednesday. Andre Monroe took reps in his place.

To help with the ratio, Canadian Matt Webster spent much of the day at safety.

Offensive linemen Dan Clark and Xavier Fulton were practicing after suffering injuries against the Redblacks.

Running back Anthony Allen will return to the lineup on Sunday after working with the offence and special teams on Wednesday.