The Calgary Roughnecks today named former assistant coach Jeff Dowling as the third head coach in team history.

Dowling replaces Chris Hall, who was fired two weeks ago after a dismal 12-9 home loss to Toronto, the team's third of the season at the Saddledome.

"We are extremely pleased that Jeff is back in the fold as head coach of this team," Roughnecks general manager Kurt Silcott said. "He has an intimate knowledge of the players and the dynamics of this team and has worked well with everyone here in the past."

"We’ve set his goals high and he has accepted that challenge with open arms."

The challenge, at least for now, only lasts until the end of the season.

Dowling, who was the Roughnecks' defensive coordinator from 2004 to 2006, left the team in order to work for a team closer to his Ontario home. As a result, he had been with the New York Titans this season, as the first-year club's assistant general manager and director of player personnel.

"I loved my time in Calgary," Dowling said. "The problem was that between my regular job and the Roughnecks, I hardly got to see my family."

"I’m well aware that distance is still a problem, but Kurt and I have agreed that we’ll complete this season and then decide if other arrangements can be agreed upon."

Dowling, who has not previously been a head coach professionally, inherits a team which was 4-4 when Hall was dismissed but picked up a surprising victory at Toronto the next day, with Silcott acting as coach.

"I have not able to see the Roughnecks in person this year," Dowling said, "but I have watched them on video and have been really impressed by a couple of the new faces I see there. They fit in well with the talented core of veterans that Calgary has had for a few years, and I firmly believe this is a championship-caliber team."

Dowling's first practice with the Roughnecks will be a week from tonight, when the team convenes in Phoenix for a game against the Arizona Sting the following night.

Hall had been the Roughnecks' head coach for every game in team history until he was fired, but actually was the team's second skipper -- the first was let go during training camp in the fall of 2001.