Coaching Staff in Place for 2017

As the regular season continues to inch closer, the Regina Riot have finalized their coaching staff for 2017. With the retirement of former Head Coach Shawn McCall, there was the potential for significant turnover with this year’s staff. Former Offensive Coordinator and new Head Coach Olivier Eddie was able to prevent that from happening.

“Continuity with the coaching staff is important and always tells a positive story,” says Eddie. “Having 7 returning coaches shows that we are a committed group. It allows us to continue to build on what has been a great success story for our team the past two years.”

While the majority of the staff remains unchanged, there will be some new faces roaming the sideline this year. New members of the Riot coaching staff are Co-Offensive Coordinator Jeff Bolen, Running Back Coach Dillon Dawson & Defensive Line Coach Brent Blakley. The three bring with them a wealth of previous coaching knowledge at the CJFL and High School level.

“Bringing in 3 new coaches will help us grow this team” says the new Head Coach. “Fresh perspectives are important as it helps us to avoid complacency.”

With the addition of Bolen, Dawson & Blakley, the Riot now have an individual position coach for each area of their roster, something Eddie feels is very important to the development of another championship team.

“As a Head Coach, you try to surround yourself with people that can bring a skill set that you don’t have to the group,” says Eddie. “I think this group of coaches does just that.”

The full list of this year’s coaching staff is as follows:

Head Coach/Co-Offensive Coordinator – Olivier Eddie

Co-Offensive Coordinator – Jeff Bolen

Defensive Coordinator – Morgan Bunce

Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator – Brenden Bennett

Quarterback Coach – JD Mack

Running Back Coach – Dillon Dawson

Receiver Coach – Thomas Retzlaff

Defensive Line Coach – Brent Blakley

Linebacker Coach – Rob Pyne

Defensive Back Coach/Special Teams Coordinator – Kris Hadesbeck