When the Ottawa REDBLACKS and BC Lions meet, it’s a special time in the Dyce household, with REDBLACKS’ Head Coach Bob Dyce facing off against his son, and Lions’ Running Backs Coach, Trysten Dyce.
Over the past couple of weeks, the Dyce family has seen a lot of one another, with the REDBLACKS and Lions playing a home-and-home series, culminating in Touchdown Pacific. The dynamic between the father and son duo is interesting, of course. The pair are one another’s biggest supporters, but when two points are on the line, they want it in their back pocket.
“We’re both very competitive,” Bob said. “He kicks my butt on the golf course every time we play, he wants to win. At the same time, we know this is the business that we work in. When we’re not playing each other, we want one another to be as successful as possible, but we know that our livelihoods depend on us winning. Our goal is to win for our team. I get paid to try to beat the BC Lions, and he gets paid to try to beat the Ottawa REDBLACKS.”
Fittingly, the Dyce battery – barring a meeting in the Grey Cup – will finish the season series split at one apiece, but once the game is over, their relationship can return to father and son, and they’ll cram as much into their rare meetings as possible.
“We make a very strong point of being able to spend as much time as we can together,” Bob said. “We always head out to the same restaurant, and we have a nice meal. We catch up at breakfast on game day. We try to spend as much time together when we play, knowing that we don’t get to see one another a lot.”
“One thing I’ll say is that he’s going to have to start paying for some of these, because they’re getting to my chequebook,” Bob said with a hearty laugh.
Trysten remarks that one of his favourite parts of meetings with the REDBLACKS is the free meal, so that last part, well, he isn’t too sure about.
“We’ll have to see,” Trysten said. “That might be a little bit out of my budget with the tase of my family now.”
Beyond the feeling of love, there’s a great sense of pride that goes both directions.
“It’s a neat thing to be in the same business as your son, as much as you maybe try to steer him away from it, so he can find something a little more stable,” Bob joked. “He’s out there cutting his teeth and finding his own way with a team that has been pretty successful. He seems to be working in the right direction.”
“I’m extremely proud of him. I see him now, and I’m even more [proud of him]. This is a tough business, a tough grind. There are a lot of sacrifices, especially for a young guy, and I know he spends some nights sleeping in the office, but I’m extremely proud of his commitment. I’ve been proud of him his whole life.”
Not just from father to son, but Trysten is equally, if not more proud of Bob.
“I’m immensely proud that he’s my Dad, and that’s every year, not just this year [because he’s winning],” Trysten said. “It is awesome to see all of his hard work really show through this year. It’s great to see them winning their close games, especially against the West.”
Oftentimes, the conversations around the dinner table stay away from football, and centre around everyday life, but those ball chats do still happen.
Of course, having been in the coaching world longer, Bob has plenty of advice for Trysten, and with keen ears, he takes as much of it in as possible.
“You have to show these guys that you care, and that your goal is to help them succeed as much as possible,” Bob said. “Once they realize that you care about them, and that you’re thoroughly invested in them, they’ll buy into what you’re doing. It’s a relationship business.”
That has stuck for the younger Dyce, who has learned both from word of mouth and through experience since being hired in 2021 that coaching isn’t as easy as it may appear to be.
“I’ve learned that this is a long process,” Trysten said. “There’s no shortcut, the only way you can get anywhere is through a lot of hard work. You have to embrace it, and take everything day by day.”
Bob says the information he gains from his son is equally valuable, though Trysten downplays the importance.
From everything Bob has seen so far, both on the field and in his personal life, he believes the sky is the limit for Trysten.
“His demeanour is very different than mine,” Bob said. “One of the things I told him is don’t try to be like me, he’s a better person than I am. He just needs to be himself, because he’s a great young man, he’s going to be successful.”
