Johany Jutras/CFL
The regular season is still several weeks away but Dave Dickenson has already experienced some subtle changes since moving into the role of head coach of the Calgary Stampeders.
“We play Friday hockey, which I find fun,” Dickenson said. “Nobody is checking me anymore now that I am head coach.”
After a 10-year career as a CFL quarterback with Calgary and BC, Dickenson spent the last several years being groomed as John Hufnagel’s replacement. With Hufnagel officially moving into the position of president and general manager, Dickenson is getting his first real taste of the head coaching role and admits he’s facing a full plate of responsibilities.
“I still have things I didn’t have to do in the past,” said the soft-spoken 43-year-old from Great Falls, Mont. “I am now aware of our free agents, our budgets, hiring the coaching staff, trying to set up schedules for training camp. I am thinking on both sides of the ball.”
Any promotion comes with a learning curve. There are the little things like moving offices and the bigger things like maintaining a winning tradition that has seen Calgary finish first or second in the West nine times in the last 11 years.
“I’m not going to try to re-invent
the winning formula. In Calgary
that formula has been working.”
Stamps HC Dave Dickenson
A big part of that winning formula has been Hufnagel, so replacing him presents its own unique challenges. Having one of the most respected CFL coaches just down the hall can be both a blessing and a curse.
Neither Dickenson nor Hufnagel expect any problems.
One of the first things Hufnagel did this winter was move out of his old office.
“So there wouldn’t be any conflict or uncertainty about who the head coach is,” Hufnagel explained.
Handing his old job over to a player he coached, and an assistant he mentored, made the process easier.
“I wouldn’t have done it voluntarily if it wasn’t Dave or someone as capable as Dave,” Hufnagel said. “I don’t think there’s a concern on my side or Dave’s side.
“Will we have conflicting ideas? We had that as head coach and offensive co-ordinator. The overall picture hasn’t changed. We are trying to win football games.”
Dickenson doesn’t see Hufnagel crossing the line between being there when needed and meddling when he isn’t wanted.
“You just hope you’re working with someone that gives you some space and lets you make your own decisions, supports you rather than always trying to tell you what to do,” said Dickenson. “The thing I trust Huff so much for is he’s done that from the get-go here with me.
“I don’t feel like he’s a micro-manager. I think he’s probably at times stepped away more than even he wanted to. He has told me he hires good people and lets them do what he hired them to do. I feel very comfortable if I ever need anything to go [to his office]. I don’t think he’s the type of guy that is always going to be coming over the top.”
During his playing career Dickenson threw for over 22,900 yards, 154 touchdowns and just 50 interceptions. He won three Grey Cups and was named to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
His evolution on the sidelines as a coach began in 2009 as Calgary’s running backs coach. In 2010 he coached the quarterbacks then in 2011 was promoted to offensive co-ordinator.
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As an assistant, Dickenson could enjoy tunnel vision and only focus on what he was doing. As head coach Dickenson needs to see the big picture.
“In the last few years I tried to learn some other stuff but I was also aware I needed to live in my own little world which was the offence,” he said. “You could of compartmentalize things very easily by making sure you did what just fit with what you do and let the other people coach their areas.
“Now the whole thing has to fit.”
Dickenson could have lightened his load but decided to keep the offensive co-ordinator’s role. For this year at least he wanted to keep calling the plays.
“I didn’t necessarily feel like I was going to not call plays,” he said. “I was going to keep that, which can sometimes limit the co-ordinators that want to work with you.”
Ryan Dinwiddie, who spent the last three years with the Montreal Alouettes, has been hired as quarterbacks’ coach. He joins a staff that already includes Marc Mueller (running backs) and Peter Constanza (receivers).
“I feel we have people in our offensive staff that can grow into that position but you have to earn it,” said Dickenson. “I’m not just going to hand it off to any of those guys at this point.”
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell sees a smooth transition from Hufnagel to Dickenson.
“Dave is one of the most respectable, loyal guys I’ve ever met,” said Mitchell, the West’s nominee for outstanding player last year. “When it came down to some things that Dave might’ve wanted to do last year, it was still Huff’s team and whatever the boss says, that’s what we’re going to do.
“That’s the attitude I have to take, that Dave is my boss. So when he tells me to do something, even a different way than I want to do it …. that’s the way I have to do it.”
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Coaching changes are often made when a team has an unsuccessful season. That gives the new person some breathing room.
Dickenson won’t have that luxury. The Stampeder organization, and its fans, have become accustomed to success.
“I don’t know how the organization treats an off year,” said Dickenson. “I think we have to be realistic.
“We’ve had a lot of change. I do think our guys should be able to sense that this is something new, something fresh. I’m hoping we grow into the team we want to be.”
As a player, Dickenson was never the biggest, or fastest. He relied on talent and hard work. Always tougher than he looked, Dickenson played through pain and never complained.
Off the field he was friendly and had a dry sense of humour. These are the qualities that might separate him from Hufnagel.
Dickenson was asked what changes people will see with him as head coach.
“From what I have been told the media will get a little more information,” he chuckled. “Huff kept it pretty close to the vest.”
Winning the Grey Cup remains the Stampeders’ objective this season. The destination is the same but the team might follow a slight different path with Dickenson leading.
“I don’t think the philosophy is going to change,” he said. “I think there might be a different style.
“I can only be who I am. “
