Calgary Herald

Defensive line's off-field work strengthen­s team

Mace likes what he sees from Wiggan, Rose as he stresses bonding away from gridiron

- DANNY AUSTIN daustin@postmedia.com Twitter: @Dannyausti­n_9

They're the unmovable objects at the centre of the Calgary Stampeders defence.

We may not know exactly how the Stamps linebacker positions are going to shake out. There's uncertaint­y about who will earn one of their starting defensive end positions.

We know, though, that it's going to be Derek Wiggan and Mike Rose in the middle of the D line. There's no mystery here.

The two thrived at the defensive tackle positions in 2019 and the Stampeders firmly believe they can be even better in 2021.

So what's the key to their partnershi­p? Well, they're big and they're athletic and they know the Stampeders systems inside and out. That's essential.

Playing on the D line requires communicat­ion, though, and Rose and Wiggan's off-field relationsh­ip definitely helps with that, too.

“Oh man, we just be kicking it, having a good time,” Rose said Thursday. “Doing what friends do. I mean, hey, we spend our days getting chewed out by gigantic 300-pound people, so you've gotta enjoy yourself sometime.”

Wiggan got more specific.

“We play a lot of Call of Duty: Warzone,” Wiggan said. “He got me on the game, so we were playing the whole (off-season). Pretty much every day we'd play a couple hours, and then I moved from Toronto to Calgary and we're almost neighbours, pretty much, so when it was allowed, we'd get together.”

This may seem inconseque­ntial. Maybe it is and this is just a fun story about two good friends who happen to have big roles to play for the Stampeders D line this season.

But anyone who has been around the Stampeders for a couple years knows that defensive line coach Corey Mace has always emphasized the importance of his players bonding outside of the stadium. In past years, he's organized trips to boxing and jujitsu gyms.

That's not currently possible because of the CFL'S wildly restrictiv­e COVID-19 protocols, but Mace still believes that strengthen­ing those personal bonds is essential to on-field success.

“I really want to build that family environmen­t,” Mace said. “I think we do a really good job, be it team dinners or the extracurri­culars like jujitsu or boxing that kind of translate to defensive line play. Within the restrictio­ns and protocols, when those are lifted you can guarantee we'll be going out there and doing similar things like that, but also I encourage those guys to stay close off the field, whether that's text messages or playing video games together, just building that familiarit­y with each other so it makes it easy to build communicat­ion on the field.”

Communicat­ion won't be an issue for Wiggan and Rose, and really, defensive tackle isn't going to be an issue for the Stampeders, assuming they both stay healthy.

While Wiggan has been around the team since 2015, he only really emerged as a week-in, weekout starter in 2017. That was the year Rose was signed.

Rose spent most of the next two seasons on the practice roster, but that was largely because he was backing up Micah Johnson, who was the CFL'S most dominant interior defensive lineman at the time.

When Rose did get his shot in 2019, it didn't take him long to prove he could play. The North Carolina State product led all interior linemen across the league with 46 defensive tackles and added five sacks.

Right next to him was Wiggan, who had 35 defensive tackles and four sacks.

“We've just been playing together from Mike's first year in 2017, we've always kind of been lined up together, taking the same reps, and then, you know, just going for the same reps,” Wiggan said. “We're kind of similar in that we weren't starters right away, had to work our way up. We kind of bonded over that and just going through different battles on the field, on the practice field and we've bonded really well after that, as well.”

FIVE RELEASED

The Stampeders released five players on Monday in accordance with CFL rules.

The team released receivers George Campbell and Bernard Reedy, linebacker Darrell Williams, D lineman Kalil Morris and punter/kicker Gerard Laws.

“A couple of those guys had tweaks and with the rules, if you're a rookie and basically can't get on the field, it's real tough,” head coach Dave Dickenson said. “We're not changing anything we do but it still wasn't easy, especially Bernard Reedy had done some good things and I just felt we had some younger and quicker guys.

“When you see guys and they're doing everything they can to make the team and are doing a good job (it's tough), but sometimes you have to make tough decisions.”

MITCHELL RAMPING UP

Quarterbac­k Bo Levi Mitchell hasn't thrown much since the start of training camp, but expect the Stamps to start ramping him up this week. He participat­ed a lot more in Tuesday's practice, and while it's still important to get a good look at the potential backups in camp, the Stampeders need to get Mitchell going, as well . ... Whoever wins the backup job, expect them to be coming in for short-yardage plays. That's how the Stamps do it, and that's not going to change . ... With Ucambre Williams, Jaylen Guthrie and D.J. Coker sitting out, the Stampeders remain a little light on the offensive line.

 ?? AL CHAREST FILES ?? Derek Wiggan and Mike Rose are expected to be in the middle of the Calgary Stampeders defensive line this Canadian Football League season. The two thrived at the defensive tackle positions in 2019 and the Stampeders firmly believe they can be even better in 2021.
AL CHAREST FILES Derek Wiggan and Mike Rose are expected to be in the middle of the Calgary Stampeders defensive line this Canadian Football League season. The two thrived at the defensive tackle positions in 2019 and the Stampeders firmly believe they can be even better in 2021.
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