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Which is a position I wouldn’t necessarily wish on my favourite football coach’s — and Dinwiddie is certainly one of those.
He came to the Argos as something of an unknown. His hiring was little more than a leap of faith. He was a backup quarterback barely being noticed in the league. He took CFL assistant coaching jobs at the bottom of staffs wherever he could get them.
And then, the Argos hired him as head coach to the excitement of absolutely no one.
All Dinwiddie accomplished in five seasons was two Grey Cup championships and the greatest single regular season in Toronto sports history. Two championships celebrated in championship-starved Toronto.
The last coach to do that was the legendary and semi-crazy Don Matthews and he had Doug Flutie playing quarterback.
Dinwiddie won Grey Cups with McLeod Bethel-Thompson and a backup named Chad Kelly and won another with backup, Nick Arbuckle. Dinwiddie leaves the Argos fourth on their all-time coaching list for wins — he leaves as one of a Toronto coach for the ages, no matter you think of the Argos.
He beat O’Shea in two Grey Cup games when he had the lesser roster and the best of bounces: O’Shea’s Bombers have been the CFL’s dominant team in during his time in Winnipeg. They played in the last five Grey Cups and probably should have won more than two of them.
The departure of Dinwiddie happened quickly. The Redblacks approached the Argos earlier in the week and asked for permission to speak with him. By rule, they couldn’t have hired him just to coach. They had to elevate his position — making him general manager.
Being coach and GM is an upgrade for Dinwiddie who personally needs a fresh start. He’ll make more money, have more responsibilities, more pressure probably in Ottawa.
But after winning the Grey Cup in 2024, Dinwiddie talked about being a general manager or getting more personnel responsibilities on his resume. Clearly, he wanted that.
GM Pinball Clemons sad to see Dinwiddie go
The negotiation with Ottawa didn’t take long. They asked for permission on Tuesday and Dinwiddie basically said goodbye to the Argos a day later. GM Pinball Clemons and company were sad to see him go. But they weren’t able to find a way to give Dinwiddie a new title, more responsibilities, more money: A chance to start fresh after a difficult season.
O’Shea is a perfect fit for the Argos. He’s an Ontario guy. He played college football at Guelph. He played pro ball only in Hamilton and Toronto.
He played with Pinball Clemons and for him in Toronto. He coached the Argos special teams before going to Winnipeg. He played for the champion Argos when MLSE CEO Keith Pelley was president of the team. O’Shea knows all the right people with the Argos now and they know him.
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This is another blow for CEO Pelley, who in just over a year on the job has said so long to Masai Ujiri, Brendan Shanahan and now Dinwiddie, all of them with championships or near championship pedigrees.
Now is the time to strike back. You start by knocking on O’Shea’s door. If you don’t get him, where do you go from there? There is no obvious choice to be next coach in Toronto. There is no Wally Buono or John Hufnagel in waiting.
The Argos were a touch shook up by losing Dinwiddie. They didn’t necessarily see it coming until it was right there and real. One or two conversations later and Dinwiddie was gone.
“It’s been a tough day, I’ll tell you that,” said Pinball Clemons, the Argos GM. “We wish Ryan the best. His impact on our team will be forever appreciated.”
The Argos only won five games this season. It was an awful year. Ottawa only won four. Worse for them. In the previous four seasons, though, Dinwiddie’s Argos won two Grey Cups, had a 16-2 regular season, and overall a .676 winning percentage, which equals out at around 11 wins a season.
In O’Shea’s last eight seasons in Winnipeg — he coached 10 in all — he had five straight Grey Cup appearances and an average of 12 wins a season.
You want to have the best team in Canadian football, you start with the best coach? That coach is Mike O’Shea. The Argos need him. The official pursuit begins on Monday.
ssimmons@postmedia.com
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