CAN THE STAMPS REPEAT?
2015 CFL season primer
Back then, John Gregory was selling a way back into the game. John Hufnagel was selling properties.
“When I got the head- coaching job in Regina ( in 1988),’’ the 76- year- old former three- city CFL coach is recalling from a departure gate in the Savannah/ Hilton Head International Airport, “I wanted the people working for me to be people I knew really well, smart people, hard workers. “People I could depend on. “I thought immediately of John.’’
The two men had formed a bond during three seasons spent together
In Winnipeg, Gregory in charge of the Bombers’ O- line, Hufnagel as one of the team’s QBs until retiring following the 1986 season.
“John was in real estate at the time, in Calgary,’’ continues Gregory. “So I flew in to meet with him. “It was a hard sell. “He was making a lot more money in his real estate business than I could offer him in coaching. But I must’ve said something right. “He took the job.’’ Now, 27 years later, John Hufnagel begins his final season in the Xs and Os dodge. Oh, sure, he’ll continue calling the shots managerially for the Calgary Stampeders, plotting course, keeping the organization vibrant and contending, but it’ll seem different, nonetheless.
We’ve become accustomed to seeing the angular gent sporting the deep- dish George Hamilton tan nibbling on the end of a pen and squinting, hard, at the big moments, key times, tight spots, in crucial games.
Typically, Huff is downplaying Huff’s final coaching rodeo.
When cornered on the subject on a grey, rain- spattered training camp day outside the players’ lounge at McMahon Stadium, he dances out of the corner, off the ropes, away from danger, as easily as Sugar Ray Leonard in his prizefighting prime.
During his time here, whatever the circumstances, John Hufnagel has invariably been the one in control.
“There’s no need to talk about it,’’ he replies. “It’s not important. I definitely don’t want it to be a distraction to anyone — players, coaches, anyone.
“It’s business as usual. This being my last year on the sidelines has no bearing on what our goal for the year is. Which is win, win, win. Win as much as you can. “Anyway, I’ll still be around.’’ That familiar tight, conversation’s-over smile.
“Sorry, that’s all you’re getting out of me.’’
Still, by any standards it’s been quite a run since 1988, weaving through Regina, Calgary, New Jersey, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Foxboro, Mass., New York and back to Calgary.
The purchase of the Stamps in 2005 by an ownership group headed by the late John Forzani revitalized a franchise that had fallen into tragic disrepair, deteriorated into a kind of campy comedy sideshow. The capture of Hufnagel three years later to tackle the dual coach- GM role was their defining moment.
He helped restore professionalism, ambition, a winning sheen. Surrounded himself — the way John Gregory did back in 1988 in Regina — with smart people, people who worked hard, people he could depend on.
Built a self- sustaining organization.
In doing so, over seven years at the helm, John Hufnagel has compiled a .709 ( 88- 36- 1) regular- season percentage and two Grey Cups titles. With offensive co- ordinator Dave Dickenson waiting in the wings and very much in demand elsewhere, he officially announced coaching secession plans following the Stamps return from Vancouver and the 20- 16 Grey Cup victory over the Hamilton Tiger- Cats early last December.
“Not that I ever really questioned it,’’ says middle linebacker Juwan Simpson now, “but when he told us last year I was kinda like ‘ Wow, that’s a bit early, isn’t it?’ Looking back, I think it was strategic. Like most things with Huff. Nobody’s talking about it here at this camp. Everybody dealt with it in the off- season.
“Now it’s regular business. He’s not doing anything to have the thought pop back into our heads. It’s normal program.”
A mentor of Hufnagel’s, B. C.’ s Wally Buono, went through the same scenario, stepping away into management exclusively after a remarkable career prowling the sidelines.
“It’s not his last year of coaching, it’s his last year of being a head coach,’’ corrects Buono, from his office in Vancouver.
“The eyes of a coach always stay the eyes of a coach. Your training is who you are. That’s very, very natural.
“The hard part for me was not that I wasn’t coaching anymore, it was still seeing everything as a coach. I can’t speak for John — you only know if you miss something when you’re not doing ( it) anymore — but do I miss coaching? No. I haven’t ever looked back. I don’t regret what I did. You know ( what) I do miss? Total control.
“But having made a conscious decision, knowing John, I think he’ll look forward, too.
“Sometimes it’s the right thing for you and the right thing for your team. I almost gave it up in 2010, but I felt because we had amassed a lot of good young players, I didn’t want to disrupt the chemistry of that. Fortunately we rallied and won the Grey Cup. But ask my wife, I thought about pulling the plug then, I fought with it, but ultimately I didn’t think it was the appropriate time.
“John knows where he’s at, where his team’s at. I don’t know why he’s stepping down and it’s really none of my business but the good thing is: He’s got a nice succession plan, he’s got a very good football team. But it’s still going to be a process of learning and growing, right?”
Hufnagel is a close- to- the- vest kinda guy. He doesn’t let out much, from the outside he is often difficult to read.
His record, though, needs no further illumination.
“First and foremost,’’ says Dickenson, “he’s ( a) very organized person. Very detailed. Someone who doesn’t let small things turn into big things. He has that little bit of an intimidating demeanour and shows great leadership.
“When you get to know him, he’s a fun coach to work for. He lets us work. He’s not a micromanager. Even though deep down he has strong opinions on things he lets us try to figure it out. For me as a coach, that’s been great.
“My first year here, in ’ 96, he was O- co- ordinator and I remember him being the same guy then as he is today. I don’t see a lot of change but I’m sure he’s had to evolve.
“I’ve learned from him, no doubt. What I like about him is the way he breaks down opponents. I’ve had some great coaches, ones I’ve worked for and played for and the ones that stay with you, the ones you respect, are the straight shooters.
“That, about him, is something I’ll try to emulate.’’
Such a degree of honesty, according to defensive co- ordinator Rich Stubler, who’s been around a few football fields himself in his day, is one of the keys to that elusive marriage of longevity and success.
“Very succinct,’’ says Stubler. “To players, honesty is huge. There are not many honest coaches. Most of them have a tendency to build you up and then cut your heart out. Huff knows who you are, treats you accordingly and if you don’t fit in, he welcomes you to find a different place to play. Sometimes it may not be what you want to hear but he tells it like it is.
He played the game, so he’s a players’ coach. We have so much respect for him. JUWAN SIMPSON
“He’s not a rah- rah guy. He wants our guys to play good football. Not to play great football for the first half because you’re all built up: To play great football for 60 minutes because you’ve prepared properly.
“Being very honest ... is hard to do. He doesn’t lie to players. Too many guys do. Too many guys have ‘ their’ guys, ‘ my’ guys. “With Huff, it’s ‘ our’ guys.’’ Since the Hugh Campbell-Edmonton Eskimos’ dynasty ended with a fifth Grey Cup championship in 1982, only two men — Don Matthews and Marc Trestman — have coached organizations to back- to- back Grey Cup championships.
It’d be a heckuva thing for John Hufnagel to increase that number to three, join such an exclusive club, as he readies to step away from the sidelines 27 years after being wooed by John Gregory’s sales pitch.
To do a Wally Buono and step away with his flag planted at the summit of the mountain.
Yes, as he said, he’ll still be around. But it’ll be different, for sure.
So then, one last time for old time’s sake. With ‘ his’ guys.
You can wager, large, that not a word will uttered on the subject — at least not by him — as the 2015 18- game campaign and playoffs unfold. And, actually, there is no need. “He played the game, so he’s a players’ coach,’’ says Juwan Simpson in summation. “We have so much respect for him. He treats us like men. He looks out for us, supports us, but demands the same in return: ‘ I’m easing up here but you guys still give me everything you’ve got.’
“No corner- cutting. Be prepared. Play hard.
“He’s very clear on what he wants. If you can ever get a group of guys to follow a man, respect what he does, respect his craft, you can achieve big things.
“And, over the years, that’s what we’ve done with Huff.’’