{"id":138392,"date":"2026-07-21T18:42:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T18:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/138392\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T18:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T18:42:22","slug":"ryan-dinwiddie-ottawa-redblacks-fighting-our-ass-off-for-our-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/138392\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Dinwiddie: Ottawa Redblacks ‘fighting our ass off for our jobs’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Gord Weber\/3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

The Ottawa Redblacks failed to earn their first win of the season on Sunday after squandering a 17-point fourth-quarter lead to lose 36-34 in overtime to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n

As the team heads into a bye week at 0-6, head coach and general manager Ryan Dinwiddie realizes he and his colleagues are fighting to stay employed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fighting our ass off for our jobs \u2014 all of us, so not what we wanted. I\u2019m sure not what our owners want right now. I\u2019m disappointed that I haven\u2019t been able to deliver for them in a bit, but I think our players, just looking in their eyes,\u00a0talking to them after the game, they\u2019re frustrated, absolutely,\u201d he said postgame.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe coaching staff, we need to find ways to get better.\u00a0I\u2019m not worried about keeping the coaching staff positive, it\u2019s going to be more, \u2018Let\u2019s get our ass in gear, let\u2019s find ways to get better.\u2019 The players,\u00a0I\u00a0want to keep it positive with them. We got better tonight, but we didn\u2019t win a game, and that\u2019s\u00a0where we\u2019re at \u2014 we\u2019ve gotta\u00a0win football games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in every game. It\u2019s close, but we\u2019re not finding ways to win, and sometimes we\u2019re finding ways to lose. It\u2019s frustrating for everybody involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Redblacks have missed the playoffs in five of their last six seasons. Bob Dyce, who took over the head coaching role on an interim basis in 2022, was fired at the end of last season despite leading Ottawa to a rare playoff berth the year prior. He finished his tenure 21-45-1.<\/p>\n

Dinwiddie, who won two Grey Cups and one Coach of the Year award during a recent five-year stint with the Toronto Argonauts, was hired to right the ship, a move that has yet to bear fruit. Though he remains in his first year with the club, many fans have clearly lost faith in the organization.<\/p>\n

Through four home games, Ottawa has averaged crowds of just 14,571, a year-over-year decline of almost 20 percent. The club is on pace for a 55-year attendance low, even falling below the average from 1996 \u2014 the last year before the Rough Riders folded.<\/p>\n

Dinwiddie isn\u2019t ready to give up on the year, and believes his players remain united despite the poor start.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping \u2026\u00a0that we\u2019re gonna turn this thing around, and I feel like the locker room has stuck together for the most part. Actually, they have \u2014\u00a0they\u2019ve stuck together, but\u00a0it\u2019s tough,\u201d said the 45-year-old.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s positive strides,\u00a0but\u00a0we\u2019re in a win-loss result business, and\u00a0we\u2019re rebuilding it a bit. I know we had high expectations in here, and\u00a0we built a roster we thought we can win with, and we still believe in those guys. I thought the locker room stuck together. It\u2019s\u00a0tough. You don\u2019t have all the words to explain things, but us as men\u00a0in this organization, we\u2019ve got to find our way out of this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jake Maier, the team\u2019s starting quarterback, echoed Dinwiddie\u2019s sentiments regarding a positive locker room atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nice thing is\u00a0that there\u2019s so many good people in our locker room, there\u00a0really aren\u2019t a lot of point-the-finger guys at all. There\u2019s actually a ton of accountability, and that\u00a0makes it really easy. Everybody\u2019s shaking hands and hugging each other in the locker room after a game like that,\u201d said Maier.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would argue it was one of the better games we played all year against a team that I would think can\u00a0contend for a Grey Cup this year. The nice thing is that the accountability is really high, and that\u2019s going to be what we\u2019re going to do going forward, just keep holding each other accountable and keep working, and eventually we\u2019ll\u00a0bust through.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old has the lowest quarterback rating (87.9) among CFL passers with multiple starts this season. He\u2019s completed 68.3 percent of his passes for 1,716 yards, eight touchdowns, and eight interceptions. The only quarterback with more interceptions is Chad Kelly with nine, though he also ranks second league-wide with 15 touchdown passes.<\/p>\n

Maier is aware of the criticism that\u2019s been levied his way, which has only grown since Dru Brown was traded to the Blue Bombers last month<\/a>, though he\u2019s not letting it get to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can say whatever they want. It used to probably bother me when I was a younger player, but it really doesn\u2019t bother me anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI care about the opinion of my teammates, and I feel like that\u2019s really strong. I feel\u00a0pretty\u00a0good about my head coach as well in terms of where he\u00a0sees me fit\u00a0and what we\u2019re doing, so that\u2019s all I focus on.\u00a0I\u2019ve got a loving family,\u00a0I\u2019ve got a loving locker room. Whatever\u00a0it is that\u2019s said, that\u2019s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maier and Brown developed a close friendship during their brief time together in Ottawa and both spoke highly of one another after the trade was announced. They\u2019ve maintained close contact over the past month, with Brown indicating they speak almost every day.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Maier) fought his ass off, he\u2019s a really good player,\u201d said Brown, who threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns in the win. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t get enough credit, in my opinion. I know how that can be tough when you play that well and you don\u2019t get a win. It\u2019s not an easy game, it\u2019s not an easy position to play up here, but I think very highly of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

At 0-6, it\u2019s tough to imagine the Redblacks earning a playoff berth. The team is four points back of the Argonauts for third place in the East Division standings. They also dropped the first of three head-to-head meetings back in Week 3, which means they\u2019ll have to sweep the two remaining games in order to win the season series.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou definitely can\u2019t feel sorry for yourselves,\u201d said defensive back Demerio Houston. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely frustrating, but we just can\u2019t soak in it. It\u2019s a long season. I feel like we\u2019re still in the first third of the season. We just have to get on it quick before we get too far behind the eight ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a long ways to go as far as\u00a0getting ourselves in a playoff position,\u201d said Dinwiddie. \u201cI think those guys have handled it the proper way, but\u00a0it\u2019s going to be tough. We\u2019ve got a bye week and I told\u00a0those guys to get with their loved ones and family members, and\u00a0hug on the people that love you, and not worry about the outside noise and narrative. I told those players to let me handle that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Redblacks are heading into their second of three bye weeks, but there won\u2019t be much rest for the coaching staff.<\/p>\n

Ottawa has a tough schedule over the next month, as the team will host the first-place Montreal Alouettes in Week 9 before road dates against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Blue Bombers, and Alouettes. Barring a turnaround, the Redblacks could realistically fall to 0-10.<\/p>\n

Dinwiddie already has a plan for how he\u2019ll tackle the extra time off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll try to get some time with my family, but we already kind of got a schedule. We\u2019re going to self-scout. We\u2019ll run the stats and look at all our schemes, and\u00a0then we\u2019ve got to watch every play of the season and see where we\u2019re at, and have a\u00a0detailed write-up of what we can do better and what we need to improve on, and why we\u2019re not\u00a0getting certain schemes ran properly, so a lot of self-reflecting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be working on the bye week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

John Hodge is a longtime Canadian football reporter, insider, and podcaster for 3DownNation. Based in Winnipeg, Hodge is also a freelance television and radio broadcaster and curling reporter for Rock Channel.<\/p>\n

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