November 25, 2017

Dialed In: Stamps focused, eyeing redemption on Sunday

Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca

In the 2001 Grey Cup, Calgary Stampeder receiver Marc Boerigter scored a 68-yard touchdown off a pass from Marcus Crandell during their 27-19 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

That particular play was inserted into the Calgary playbook for that game. It was finetuned at a closed practice during Grey Cup Week away from the prying eyes of the media.

It remains to be seen if the Stampeders will have any tricks up their sleeves when they play the Toronto Argonauts in Sunday’s 105th Grey Cup presented by Shaw.

“We can run 27 trick plays that we didn’t show you guys,” said quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. “You have certain things maybe you are doing different.”

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Daniels was with the team last year when they lost in the Grey Cup and is hoping for a different result this time around (Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca)

Some trick plays are drawn up for specific opponents. Some have been in a team’s playbook all season, but haven’t been used. Others are simply variations of existing plays.

“Every week we are making adjustments,” said receiver Marquay McDaniel. “It’s not just for this game.

“Our coaches do a good job of self-scouting too. They know our tendencies and what teams look for. We make one little change on a route or on a certain play, it can make a huge difference.”

Calgary coach Dave Dickenson seemed to flipflop on the importance of holding a closed practice.

On Thursday he suggested the Stampeders had nothing to hide.

“I don’t think it really matters, closed or not,” he said. “We just do it. I don’t see people spying on you.

“We don’t get too involved in the conspiracy theory of that.”

On Friday, the Argonauts practiced outdoors at TD Place Stadium. Dickenson opted to have his team train at the University of Ottawa indoor facility because of concerns about the high-rise condominium building that overlooks TD Place.

“The thinking is for me with those condo buildings right behind the stadium, I’m not comfortable knowing who’s going to be in those buildings,” said Dickenson.

“Nothing against Toronto actually. I think they’re very respectful. But you just don’t know who’s there, and there’s enough information I think you can get from practice. It was just one of those things where we’ve been burned in the past, so we’d rather know who’s watching our practice.”

Mitchell said sometimes the biggest value of holding a closed practice is it keeps the players focused.

“You just want the guys to lock in,” said Mitchell. “There has to be a day of work with no media, no fans, just us.

“Honestly, if there’s not a camera around, maybe this guy isn’t worried about what he’s wearing, making sure he doesn’t have the right shoes on, the right socks. It gives our guys a day to not worry about what’s outside the field just but inside the white lines.”

Modern technology has also changed play calling and how teams make adjustments during a game.

Teams have iPads on the sideline that give them access to more camera angles than what viewers see on television.

That allows coaches and players to digest and dissect personnel, formations, routes and alignments. This helps teams immediately spot weakness and strengths while giving them a better understanding of why some plays works and what went wrong with others.

“That has been a challenge as a coach,” said Dickenson. “How many times can you run a certain play? You know they are going to pick up on it.

“You look to change what you do but they have seen it as well, so they have adjusted. With iPads, I certainly think as coaches you can be more prepared and make more adjustments during a game.”

Johnson will look to add to his impressive regular season sack total in Sunday’s game (Patrick Doyle/CFL.ca)

DeVone Claybrooks, Calgary’s defensive coordinator, said the new technology helps but coaches still must be cerebral enough to make changes on the fly.

“It’s not about doing something different,” said Claybrooks. “It’s about why you did it different. That’s the key.

“A lot of people do things different. Everybody is a copycat, nobody is reinventing anything here in football. It’s the why and why they do it you have to understand. If I can under the why and the how I can easily stop it. But if I can’t understand why they are doing this at this point of the field . . . then I’m probably going to get beat.”

The Stampeders held their final practice of the week outdoors in a steady rain. The players looked loose as they laughed and joke, but seemed very focused.

It was a different demeanour than what the Stampeders showed last year when they were heavily favoured to defeat the Ottawa REDBLACKS. In the week leading up to the game the players displayed a cockiness that sometimes verged on arrogance.

Instead of romping to victory the Stampeders feel behind early against Ottawa, rallied to force overtime but still lost 39-33 in overtime.

Receiver DaVaris Daniels, the 2016 rookie of the year, said last year was a learning experience.

“Having that last year, thinking we were going to come in and win, having that confidence, they punched us in the mouth early and we didn’t know how to respond,” he said. “This year we are ready for what ever comes our way.”

Some of the Stampeders looked to treat the leadup to the 2016 game as a holiday.

Defensive tackle Micah Johnson said this year its been all business.

“This is more of a business approach,” he said. “One of the things, when you have been in a situation before you learn from it.

“We know what we did wrong, we know what we did right. We have to change our approach to a different level of focus.”

Running back Roy Finch, the CFL’s Outstanding Special Teams Player, said the loss left scars that were slow to heal.

“Everything happens for a reason,” said Finch. “We lost that game for a reason. It humbled us a lot. A lot of the guys were really hurt. It took a lot of guys months and months to get over the loss.

“Everybody is going to fall but do you get back up? It’s a failure if you stay down. We didn’t stay down. We got back to the championships. We just have to finish off the deal.”

Mitchell bristled when the subject of last year’s loss was brought up in his final news conference before the game.

“I feel like it’s the third time I’ve already answered this question,” he said.

“Last year was different. It was a different year, we were a different team last year. We are locked in and we are confident and ready to go.”