{allcanada} Riders set to announce Marshall hiring

 

The Saskatchewan Roughriders will unveil former Hamilton defensive co-ordinator Greg Marshall as their new head coach, likely on Thursday, sportsnet.ca has learned.

It is expected Marshall will receive a three-year deal.

The Riders have gone through an exhaustive search after Ken Miller, who coached the team the last three years, stepped down after the season to concentrate solely on overseeing football operations.

Marshall, who has long been considered a candidate for head coaching jobs in the Canadian Football League but was often a bridesmaid, had been one of several candidates interviewed for the coveted Riders' job. The list also included former Edmonton head coach Richie Hall, current Roughriders' offensive co-ordinator Doug Berry, Calgary defensive backs coach Cory Chamblin and Montreal quarterbacks coach Scott Milanovich as the main interests.

It is not known if Marshall will hire Hall, who has experience as a longtime defensive co-ordinator in Saskatchewan. The two worked together there before. In fact, Hall served as the team's defensive backfield coach when Marshall was the defensive co-ordinator in the late '90s.

The Riders still have Gary Etcheverry as their defensive co-ordinator and he is a longtime friend of Miller's. In fact, it was Etcheverry who gave Miller his first CFL job as a position coach in 2002. Etcheverry runs a high-pressure defence using unconventional schemes and blitzes. Marshall likes to employ a more conventional man-to-man scheme, so this could factor into the hiring process.

If Etcheverry is not retained, it will show that Miller gave Marshall the freedom to hire his own staff without handcuffing.

Hall will have a variety of options. He is coveted by Winnipeg and Hamilton as a defensive co-ordinator because of his experience working previously on staffs with both of the current head coaches.

Hamilton is expected to announce later this week or early next week that Khari Jones, who worked as the team's quarterbacks coach last year, has been elevated to offensive co-ordinator.

The Hamilton Spectator has speculated that Ticats secondary coach Brad Miller, who has experienced as a defensive co-ordinator in the CFL, might be elevated to that position to replace Marshall. However, sources tell sportsnet.ca that the team wants Hall.

The Ticats are also expected to announce that Roughriders' personnel director Joe Womack has been hired as assistant general manager to GM Bob O'Billovich. This may be O'Billovich's final year as GM.

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