CALGARY’S SPECIAL TEAMS COACH EXUDES PASSION
Former Golden Bear Kilam routinely shepherds top-tier punt, kick return squads
Calgary Stampeders special teams co-ordinator Mark Kilam will be the super-charged guy with the wild hair and the big smile on the sidelines on Grey Cup Sunday.
Look up animated in your dictionary and you’ll find a picture of Kilam, the former University of Alberta Golden Bears linebacker and now the longest-serving coach in the CFL, in his 14th season with the Stampeders.
“I try to bring energy all the time and it’s something I ask from my guys. That’s me being me. I live and die with guys covering kicks and I’m really excited for them because I know how hard they work to make those plays,” said Kilam. “Sometimes he’s out of control on the sidelines, but in a good way,” chuckled Stamps GM John Hufnagel.
Kilam started with the team as strength and conditioning coach, then got a turn as quality control and linebacker/defensive back coach, then special teams top dog in 2010 when Craig Dickenson, Dave’s brother, joined the Oakland Raiders.
Every year the Stamps have one of the best punt and kick return teams. Last year it was Roy Finch, before that it was Larry Taylor. This season, it’s been Terry Williams, Romar Morris — who injured his ankle in the West final against Winnipeg — and Canadian Tunde Adeleke. Williams ran back three kickoffs for TDs in the regular season and the team led the CFL averaging 12.3 yards on punt returns. They also have one of the best, if not the best punter/place-kicker duos in Rob Maver and Rene Paredes, a good long-snapper in Pierre-Luc Caron. Wynton McManis led the CFL with 24 special-teams tackles.
All tutored by Kilam.
It didn’t start smoothly for Kilam, who grew up in Lethbridge, the son of two doctors — dad Surender, a surgeon, and mum Jan, in sports medicine. His first training-camp scrimmage was a bust and Hufnagel got on him because there were only 11 players on the field for a special-teams play.
“Yeah, it was a gong show … we had 11 players on the field twice and guys couldn’t catch the ball,” admitted Kilam in a Calgary Herald story in 2012.
Nobody on the current Stampeders coaching staff has made more trips to the Grey Cup. This is Kilam’s sixth game but it never gets old, even if he’s been through the media drill so often.
“When I first started coaching pro football I was on the defensive side,” said Kilam, who played for the Golden Bears from 1997-2001, then coached high school football in Cochrane for three years.
“When you get into special teams, you develop your own niche and it’s a position where it’s hard to bring in an American coach because they don’t know all the rules and stuff,” he said. “If you can establish yourself with special teams, there’s good longevity.”
Special teams in the NFL isn’t anything like the wide-open, bigfield CFL.
“That’s one of the best things about the CFL. Everybody loves the return game and all special teams guys love covering kicks as well,” said Kilam.
“Special teams get overlooked a lot but the game’s all about field position in the CFL. We control momentum swings and if you control that part of the game you set up great offences and great defences,” said Kilam.
Kilam has been through lots of returners but the same kickers for years, obviously a good thing. Paredes (41 of 45 field goals made this year) and Maver are both high end. “Both really good professionals,” said Kilam.
“Teams change each and every year, but fortunately our player personnel has done a great job of finding guys for us, ” said Kilam, who has an affinity for returners.
“They have to have courage and the ball skills … they all have a level of athletic ability, but they have to stay healthy. They do get banged up quite a bit,” said Kilam, who could have left the Stamps in 2013 for the Golden Bears head job, but chose to stay.
“I have a Golden Bears tattoo on my body because I played for them, but it was a choice I made (to stay with the Stamps) and I haven’t looked back,” said Kilam, whose college playing career was cut short by a series of knee injuries. He actually did some coaching at the U of A.
“There’s no doubt I want to be a head coach in this league, but special teams guys … they’re not the sexy pick,” said Kilam. “But they’re the guys who coach the whole team, don’t just focus on one side. They’re going through all the situations.”