It didn’t take General Manager Jeremy O’Day long to fill the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ vacant head coaching position.

Just a week after O’Day took over the reigns of the organization, Craig Dickenson has been named the new field boss for the Riders, becoming a head coach for the first time in his career.

Dickenson has two decades of experience as an assistant in the Canadian Football League. He said that will serve him well in his new role.

"This is a special organization, it’s special to be a part of this organization whether you’re the head coach, special teams coordinator or running backs coach, so we’re just thrilled to come back and work with Jeremy and try to build something great here," said Dickenson.

"This was the perfect job at the perfect time with the perfect people and I couldn’t feel any better about the people that I’m going to work with."

Dickenson signed a three-year contract to become the 47th head coach in Riders’ history. He will also continue to serve in his role as the special teams coordinator.

O’Day said that Dickenson checked all the boxes for what they want in a head coach of the Riders from leadership to an understanding and managing of the game.

"What’s attractive of hiring a special teams guy is he’s leading the room on a daily basis, so he’s in front of the whole group, he’s not just in front of a positional group, he deals with the offensive and defensive guys," said O’Day.

"He’s a student of the game, he studies the rulebook, he’s the only coach that I’ve ever worked with that asks me on a regular basis, 'Where’s the rulebook?' If you watch our sideline during the game, the head coach is regularly talking with Craig during the games about situational football."

Dickenson is entering the fourth season in his second stint with the Riders. He served as a special teams coordinator for 15 seasons in the CFL, including the last five under Chris Jones.

Dickenson said he will lean on the experience that he’s gained to be the best head coach that he can be.

"It’s an evolution, I know somebody say that they want to be a head coach from day one, that wasn’t me, I evolved into this role a bit more and I’m going to learn on the job, this is my first head coach job and I plan on working as hard as I can to do a good job at it and to learn each and every day," said Dickenson.

The rivalry game between the Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders added another level of interest with Dickenson taking on the new role in Saskatchewan, as his brother Dave is the head coach in Calgary.

The new Saskatchewan coach said this announcement is a very proud moment for his family.

"I grew up in fairly humble roots, my father was a school teacher and he was all about putting your nose to the grindstone and working, but it’s a pretty proud moment for my folks and for me as well," he said.

Dickenson, O’Day and the Riders’ front office will now work to fill out the coaching staff with a hole at defensive coordinator still.

The Riders improved each season under Jones and coming off a 12-6 campaign in 2018, expectations will be high for a first-year head coach, but Dickenson said the pressure of coaching in Saskatchewan is something that he looks forward to.

"People care out here, people are going to scrutinize what you do — both good and bad — they’re going to have an opinion and we respect that and knowledge that, but that sort of scrutiny, that sort of expectation level is what makes this the best job in the CFL," he said.

"The key is building a culture in the locker room, in the building, that continually reinforces what and develops what you’re trying to teach and we’re on our way… We’ve got a good core group of guys that get it, that understand what it takes to be successful and are willing to pay the price to be successful."

The biggest question that Dickenson will have to answer immediately is who will be starting at quarterback for the Riders in 2019. Dickenson said the answer to that remains up in the air at this point.

"There’s a lot of good ones out there, we’re in a similar situation as a lot of the teams in the league right now, we need a good quarterback," said Dickenson. "We feel confident in the quarterbacks that we have, we have good players in house, there’s good free agents out there and in the next few days, we’ll start to narrow that list and try to get one."

Free agency opens on Feb. 15.