Stamps still the cream of CFL crop
SEASON PREVIEW: Ticats should again top the East, while Calgary’s depth makes them pre-season faves
With massive change in both coaching and player ranks, the B.C. Lions don’t mind taking the opening week bye in the nine-team CFL, but must watch the rest of the league start while waiting until the weekend to resume practices.
Province football writer Lowell Ullrich looks at what the rest of the CFL has been up to during the offseason and what to watch as league play starts with the Montreal Alouettes hosting the Ottawa Redblacks on Thursday.
Calgary Stampeders
Last year: 15-3, won Grey Cup Coach: John Hufnagel, 8th year Welcome: DB Joe Burnett, DL Brandon Boudreaux
Thanks for coming: WR Mo Price (trade, Ottawa), RB Hugh Charles, C Brett Jones (NY Giants), OL Stanley Bryant (Winnipeg), WR Brad Sinopoli (Ottawa), SB Nik Lewis (Montreal), DB Keenan MacDougall (Saskatchewan)
Off-season recap: John Hufnagel says he has done the arithmetic and has actually found something to strive for while seeking to repeat as Grey Cup champs.
The team architect, who is entering his final year as coach before handing the reins to Dave Dickenson, was asked if the task of winning a Grey Cup or defending a league championship was tougher.
It was a question that Hufnagel can’t draw on much experience. He was around for the Stamps 2009 season after winning the Grey Cup a year earlier. Trying to repeat only happened to him once as a player, in 1984-85 in Winnipeg.
“Just by doing the math, repeating is more of a challenge than winning the first time,” he said. “But I do have a group of core veterans that were part of the ’08 team that have the experience of trying to defend.”
By Calgary standards, the off-season amounted to a winter of adversity, when in fact Hufnagel’s depth is so strong it’ll be hard to detect a difference even if they don’t repeat last year’s 17-3 season overall.
Calgary has the best group of Canadians. Enough said.
Calgary must replace two offensive line starters, Brett Jones and Stanley Bryant, but have capable replacements in Pierre Lavertu and Edwin Harrison.
QB Bo Levi Mitchell showed at the Grey Cup game the wisdom of Hufnagel’s decision to choose him over Drew Tate.
Mitchell’s performance earned him an off-season contract extension, but the deal was anything but stifling on the Calgary salary cap.
“He might not be highest-paid (quarterback), but his banker’s smiling,” said Hufnagel.
The only thing where the Stamps lag is aging McMahon Stadium itself, now retreating on a list of West Division standout facilities.
“There’s really not much more we can do with the stadium,” president Gordon Norrie admitted.
Given his level of success the only improvement the Stamps will be considering is whether to construct a Hufnagel statue outside the old University of Calgary barn.
Edmonton Eskimos
Last year: 12-6, lost West final. Coach: Chris Jones, 2nd year. Welcome: WR Kenny Stafford, OL Alex Krausnick, OL Greg Wojt, WR Cory Watson, RB Chad Simpson
Thanks for coming: WR Fred Stamps (Montreal), OL Matt O’Donnell (Cincinnati, NFL), DB Chris Rwabukamba (B.C.), DB Joe Burnett (Calgary), K Hugh O’Neill, WR Akeem Foster
Off-season recap: The sign outside town welcoming visitors to the City of Champions still seems a bit misplaced, but there’s a sense of calm heading into a new season for the Eskimos, who can get back to solving an ancient rivalry as their primary stumbling block.
The addition of rookie coach Chris Jones worked famously and the Eskimos returned to become a feared force last season. Jones, GM Ed Hervey and club president Len Rhodes all received contract extensions. The club also announced a $3.6-million profit and reclaimed its status as the team with the best home attendance numbers last year. Shades of yesteryear indeed. The problem for Edmonton wasn’t maintaining success against the rest of the league, but much as it was during the Wally Buono days, it was about beating the Calgary Stampeders last year.
Edmonton went 13-2 against the league but 0-3 against the Stamps, not to mention a 43-18 pasting in the division final. It’s the kind of thing that can play tricks in the minds of a young team, but Jones says Calgary isn’t any more top of mind than another opponent.
Top of mind for Edmonton will be to determine whether QB Mike Reilly has indeed made it back after being injured late last year.
Also, how to replace RB John White, lost for the season in training camp with a ruptured Achilles. Ex-Winnipeg RB Chad Simpson got the call soon after White was injured. Hervey and Jones didn’t have to withstand any other serious personnel blows and also had the good sense to trade Fred Stamps after a down year.
“Everything around here is about consistency,” said Hervey, a suggestion that everything that took place before he arrived was inconsistent.
The City of Champions sign that is a source of amusement to out-oftowners might soon become appropriate again.
Saskatchewan Roughriders
Last year: 10-8, lost West semifinal. Coach: Corey Chamblin, 4th year. Welcome: MLB Shea Emry (trade, Toronto), WR Jamel Richardson, DL Alex Hall (Carolina, NFL), LS Jorgen Hus.
Thanks for coming: OL Dominic Picard, DL Ricky Foley (trade, Toronto), OL Ben Heenan, FB Neal Hughes
Off-season recap: The comparison is unmistakable.
The Lions finished 9-9 and changed their head coach. Saskatchewan went 10-8 and changed six assistant coaches plus did some major player restructuring.
Believing there was more wrong with his team than the fact QB Darian Durant went down halfway through last season, coach Corey Chamblin went through a far more substantial rebuilding job.
“We were a decent team to start off last year but somewhere along the line you have to start looking at philosophy. Things have to change sometimes,” Chamblin said. “Coming off a Grey Cup year (in 2013), sometimes there can be a lull.”
Chamblin started by effectively sending half his coaching staff to the Lions, then had a hand in pulling off one of the bigger off-season CFL trades, shipping out Ricky Foley for fellow Canadian Shea Emry on defence. Chamblin already has a Grey Cup ring and coach of the year award on his resumé. He wants more and thinks big.
“I feel I can become an elite coach in this league and my team will be one of the elite teams,” he said.
To get there, the Riders will need to adapt to pass-first offensive co-ordinator Jacques Chapdelaine and the new defensive system of assistant Greg Quick.
With a new edition of Mosaic Stadium rising quickly on the Regina skyline, the Riders have enough weapons to be competitive again.
Durant has recovered from the dislocated elbow that ended the Riders’ chances abruptly last season and turned heads during the winter when he said he thought he could throw for 6,000 passing yards with the offensive rule changes being invoked this year. That’s a change every team wouldn’t mind undertaking.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Last year: 7-11, last in West. Coach: Mike O’Shea 2nd year. Welcome: OL Stanley Bryant (free agent, Calgary), LB Sam Hurl, LS Tim Cronk, DL Jamaal Westerman, OL Sukh Chung (2015 draft)
Thanks for coming: WR Cory Watson, P Mike Renault, OL Steve Morley, DL Jason Vega, LB Ian Wild
Off-season recap: If the thought that teams stock up more for talent while playing host to the Grey Cup was abandoned last year when the Lions had a chance to be the home team, it isn’t being shelved in the area that means the most to the Bombers this year.
Winnipeg plays host to the final game this year and though it will require some heavy lifting for the Bombers to be involved on the field in the Grey Cup, they have begun the process of repairing their biggest shortcomings.
Canadian talent was stripped almost bare through years of neglect by former general manager Joe Mack, but that excuse is now gone. Secondyear GM Kyle Walters concentrated heavily on non-import depth this year and the result should mean the Bombers will be competitive with 10 new starters. They were more than pushovers at the start of coach Mike O’Shea’s rookie season.
“We’re trying to win Grey Cups every year but you don’t sacrifice short term for long term,” said Walters, a non-import special teams stalwart during his CFL playing days.
Winnipeg’s off-season moves reflect that philosophy. O’Shea and Walters spent heavily to get one of the best available free-agent offensive linemen, Calgary’s Stanley Bryant, and appear willing to give Port Coquitlam’s Sukh Chungh, taken second overall in the May draft, a serious look alongside him.
Defensively, O’Shea parted ways with Gary Etcheverry, whose views were deemed too radical once again, replacing him with Richie Hall, who’ll have a decent defensive push but will need to find answers at linebacker.
But Drew Willy returns with a contract extension to provide the face of the franchise again, representative of the Bombers’ long-term view.
They may not make it all the way home this year, but seem headed in the right direction.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Last year: 9-9, lost Grey Cup Coach: Kent Austin, 3rd year Welcome: OL Ryan Bomben (trade, Montreal)
Thanks for coming: DB Delvin Breaux (to New Orleans, NFL), WR Sam Giguere (Montreal), WR Craig Ellingson (Ottawa), QB Dan LeFevour (Montreal), OLs Marc Dile, Greg Wojt, S Marc Beswick.
Off-season recap: The fear of every rival as to what might the Ticats accomplish if they ever stuck around home for awhile could be discovered at Tim Hortons Field and possibly en route to a third straight Grey Cup appearance.
Though the Ticats haven’t won their final game of the season the last two years, they also have yet to lose at the place where Ivor Wynne Stadium once stood, leaving many to think this could be the year for Kent Austin’s team. Austin had to put up with superior challenges the last two years while waiting for their new facility to be built — which meant a year playing home games in Guelph, Ont. — but have conquered them all.
“We’re a no-excuse football team,” Austin said.
After two seasons of massive personnel overhaul, Austin has also kept changes to a minimum this year as well, with Zach Collaros an established starter at quarterback and the league’s second-best offence, plus a defence which also allowed the second-fewest yards last year. Austin still has his challenges. Delvin Breaux, arguably the league’s best defensive back, left for the NFL after last year. Hamilton also lost two potential starters — freeagent WR Spencer Watt and OL Linden Gaydosh — for the season on the same day during the winter and DL Brian Bulcke and RB Moises Madu during training camp.
But the Ticats’ best off-season move might have been getting a contract extension agreement with Brandon Banks, who was only a legal punt return away last season from delivering Hamilton a Grey Cup win.
The Ticats won’t play at home until Aug. 3 thanks to the Pan Am Games, but president Scott Mitchell said Bob Young could still be the first owner of the franchise in nearly 40 years to turn a profit this year, anticipating every regular-season ticket to be sold. Times have changed again in Steeltown. Now all the Ticats have to do is change the ending.
Montreal Alouettes
Last year: 9-9, lost East final. Coach: Tom Higgins, 2nd year. Welcome: QB Dan LeFevour (free agent, Hamilton), TB Stefan Logan (free agent, Lions), SB Fred Stamps (trade, Edmonton), SB Nik Lewis (Calgary), WR Sam Giguere (free agent, Hamilton);
Thanks for coming: WR Duron Carter (free agent, Indianapolis, NFL); WR Chad Johnson, OL Ryan Bomben, WR Brandon London, RB Brandon Whitaker, CB Geoff Tisdale.
Off-season recap: There’s a reason why Jim Popp has lasted in the CFL for two decades and it comes through when the GM of the Montreal Alouettes talks about how he has built consistent winners over the years.
Popp’s big move of the off-season was to replace his best receiver, Duron Carter, when he left for the NFL, with a pair of CFL veterans, Fred Stamps and Nik Lewis. It’s not conventional thinking, but with his track record it’s best to let Popp talk.
“What is the difference of getting really good production out of Fred Stamps and Nik Lewis for two years versus taking a really young guy that’s dynamic like Duron Carter, who plays for two years and goes to the NFL? Bottom line is you get two years out of them,” Popp said.
Popp didn’t spend aggressively in free agency prior to last year, opting instead to get new deals for S.J. Green, Chip Cox and Jeff Parrett. And after a 1-7 start, QB Jonathan Crompton delivered an 8-2 finish and hope for the season ahead.
Popp’s best move this winter might have been the draft-day trade sending away Ryan Bomben to Hamilton, as the Als had already signed Phillip Blake, a 2011 draft pick who had kicked around the NFL. Second best was signing Dan LeFevour, who might soon be Crompton’s heir apparent under centre.
Coach Tom Higgins opted for Turk Schoenert over Jeff Garcia, who ended up with the NFL’s St. Louis Rams, as offensive co-ordinator this year and if the Als’ offensive line protection holds up, Montreal will have a chance again this year.
“If we pick up where we left off, we could have a very memorable season,” said Higgins. As long as their GM keeps delivering talent, he’s right.
Ottawa Redblacks
Last year: 2-16, last in East. Coach: Rick Campbell, 2nd year
Welcome: WR Brad Sinopoli, WR Craig Ellingson, WR Ernest Jackson (free agent Lions), WR Mo Price (trade, Calgary), OL Sir Vincent Rogers.
Thanks for coming: Alex Krausnick-Groh (to Edmonton), WR Dobson Collins (to Montreal), LB Jasper Simmons, LB Anton McKenzie, LB Jason Pottinger.
Off-season recap: It’s hard to escape the reality associated with a 2-16 season, but there are some numbers the Ottawa Redblacks claim make them the envy of the CFL that indeed may have more of an impact on the bottom line.
Henry Burris hardly had a receiver who could catch consistently in plain sight all last year, but the Redblacks had the kind of demographic numbers that make opposing marketers drool.
“I can say with modesty we are the envy of the CFL when it comes to the significant support we’ve gotten from that elusive 18-34 demographic. We know they are season ticket holders of the future,” president Jeff Hunt said.
For their second season the Redblacks formally opened a retail component at TD Place that is something David Braley and other CFL owners should consider when looking to add revenue.
They also might actually have a decent offence for their sophomore campaign, having torn apart parts of the offensive line and everyone in their receiving corps.
Ottawa invested heavily in an improved package for first-year offensive co-ordinator Jason Maas. What they need to discover is whether the protection of Burris is good enough for a 40-year-old quarterback whose mobility is surely to be challenged.
General manager Marcel Desjardins didn’t undertake a huge overhaul on defence for returning coach Rick Campbell.
“We’re going to continue to grow those guys,” said Desjardins.
If it works out, Hunt could have quite the shindig as one of the first to move into the condos overlooking a TD Place end zone.
“My move-in date is Oct. 5. I’m still hoping for the spectacle of being out on my terrace watching a game before the season ends,” said Hunt. For the CFL’s youngest franchise, last in the league but first in box office appeal still isn’t bad.
Toronto Argonauts
Last year: 8-10, missed playoffs. Coach: Scott Milanovich, 4th year.
Welcome: DL Ricky Foley (trade, Saskatchewan)
Thanks for coming: MLB Shea Emry, OT Sir Vincent Rogers, WR Spencer Watt, WR Mike Bradwell, WR John Chiles
Off-season recap: There must be something in the organizational playbook of David Braley where the Argos must follow the blueprint of the owner’s other CFL operation because Toronto seems to be as much of an X-factor this year as the Lions.
At the very least, the Lions have taken note of the manner in which Braley’s other team has dealt with a shoulder injury to their veteran quarterback. Ricky Ray opted for surgery, as Travis Lulay did after one of his previous injuries. But the Argos have had backup Trevor Harris stashed away for four seasons and this year they won’t hesitate to let him run the offence.
Harris was the odd man out when the league discovered Zach Collaros, who eventually left to run his own show in Hamilton. Now he gets his chance in Toronto.
Toronto made the biggest trade of the off-season, sending Shea Emry to Saskatchewan when they signed draft pick LB Cory Greenwood, back from a failed NFL try. The Argos also have a huge field-position advantage with last year’s top special teams player, Swayze Waters. As usual GM Jim Barker has assembled a solid roster for coach Scott Milanovich. Both were each given well-deserved contract extensions this week.
The problem for the Argos is that the pending sale of the team came after the current group agreed to a ridiculous schedule brought on by the upcoming Pan Am Games.
Toronto plays its first five games on the road, including its so-called home-opener Saturday in Fort McMurray, Alta.
It’s not exactly an ideal scenario, but if this team can somehow make it to Labour Day without completely falling apart, the Argos have a chance to be one of the league’s success stories this year.