Roughriders add Berry to coaching staff

Doug Berry, rumoured for much of the winter as a candidate for the Toronto Argonauts head-coaching job, has found a home in Regina.

Saskatchewan Roughriders bench boss Ken Miller on Thursday named the one-time Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach as his assistant and offensive co-ordinator.

Berry has been looking for work in football since the Blue Bombers fired him on Nov. 12, 2008, after an 8-10 season and loss to Edmonton in the CFL's East Division semifinal.

Berry, who signed a two-year contract extension with Winnipeg at the start of the 2008 campaign, brings more than 30 years of coaching experience to the Riders' staff, which took shape Thursday with several hirings.

Prior to taking the Blue Bombers job in December 2005, Berry had spent the previous seven years as an assistant coach and offensive co-ordinator with the Montreal Alouettes.

Previously, Berry spent 20 years coaching at the U.S. college level.

Miller also named Bob Dyce receivers coach and passing game co-ordinator, while former Saskatchewan coach Jim Daley returns as special-teams co-ordinator.

Dyce joins the Riders from Winnipeg, where he spent the past seven seasons, including six as receivers coach. The Bombers hired him in 2003 as their running backs/special-teams coach.

Daley, who spent five seasons in Saskatchewan in the 1990s, was defensive co-ordinator and defensive line coach with the Eskimos in 2009.

The Ottawa native also worked as the senior adviser of football operations and officiating at the CFL head office while taking a hiatus from coaching.

Daley first joined the league in 1991 with the Ottawa Rough Riders and later had stints with Calgary and Winnipeg.