Teacher, star pupil in final faceoff
Stampeders’ head coach not looking at missed opportunity to succeed Buono
As Dave Dickenson’s playing days with the B.C. Lions drew to a close in the late aughts, Wally Buono began to think of a succession plan for the head-coaching position he would vacate one day.
True, the actual plan wasn’t completely formed but, in Dickenson, Buono saw the qualities he admired most in football men. The kid from Montana was smart and creative. He was also tougher than boiled ostrich. Conceptually, he was the right man for the job.
The problem was, in the real world, things got in the way.
“The whole idea was to bring him along,” Buono says. “There are certain players who have that thing and if you can get them involved and groom them, you can really help your organization.
“But I knew it was never going to happen.”
Maybe had things broken a little differently, Dickenson would now be the Lions’ head coach and the Calgary Stampeders would be wondering how he got away.
“I would have coached here,” Dickenson, the Stamps’ head coach said on Friday as his team landed in Vancouver for Buono’s final regular-season game. “I wanted to stay, actually.”
Which might qualify as the greatest what-if in Lions history.
Tonight at B.C. Place Stadium, the latest and, in all probability, final meeting between the teacher and his star pupil takes place. And while little is on the line for the Lions, a win for the Stamps gives them first place in the West Division and host-team status in the divisional final on Nov. 18.
But given the biblical themes involved in the Buono-Dickenson relationship, this game would generate interest and emotion if it was played on a sandlot. Buono was asked Friday what it meant to go against Dickenson, his former quarterback in both Calgary and B.C., in his final regular-season game after five decades in the CFL.
“When you think of us changing the landscape (with the Lions) it was Dave Dickenson,” he answered. “I said to (Lions owner) David (Braley), if you have the money I’ll get Dave here (when the quarterback signed with the Lions in 2003). And Dave came here because he knew what we were going to build.” Over to you Dave.
“I came close to signing with Toronto ( before the 2003 season), but I signed here because Wally signed here. If Wally wouldn’t have been the coach here I probably would have signed someplace else. And who knows what would have happened?”
Dickenson, of course, played for Buono in Calgary from 1997 to 2000, winning a Grey Cup in 1998, but his larger impact was in resurrecting a Lions team that almost died from neglect in the 1990s. With Dickenson running the offence and Buono building the program, the Lions won the West in 2004 before losing to Toronto in the Grey Cup, then came back and won a title in 2006.
“We didn’t come into a situation where there were a ton of fans,” said Dickenson. “But it felt like we were growing something fresh and new.
“Then you add Bobby Ackles (the late Lions GM and president) in that mix and all of a sudden we get 45,000, 50,000 fans at a playoff game. I’m proud of those times.”
Along the way, Dickenson became the face of the franchise and the man who epitomized Buono’s gridiron philosophy. The problem was, the undersized quarterback ran into a litany of injuries in the later stages of his career, including a chronic concussion problem that ultimately ended his playing days.
“He had a different kind of toughness,” Buono said. “It was staying in the pocket and take all those hits. A lot of people aren’t willing to do that. When I think of Dave Dickenson here’s what I think of: It’s the Western Final (in 2004), it’s (second and 19 in the last minute with the Lions trailing by three) and Dave stands in there until Jason Clermont gets open (for a 36-yard gain that set up the game-tying field goal). That’s Dave. He’s a rock.”
But, by 2007, the rock was starting to crack and that offseason Buono released Dickenson. The Stamps’ coach now says he was open to staying on with the Lions as either a coach or a player, but there was no offer.
Instead, he signed with the Stamps, where he threw nine passes in the 2008 season, then came back as their running back coach in 2009.
Before the next season Buono called and offered Dickenson the quarterback coach’s job with the Lions. Dickenson said he was close to accepting before he made a call to John Hufnagel, the Stamps’ head coach and GM.
“I didn’t want to coach running backs anymore,” Dickenson said. “I felt like I was a quarterback guy, but George Cortez was doing quarterbacks. Huff called George. George thought it was in the best interests of the club to go in a different direction.
“Yeah, it was close there.” How close is a matter of some interpretation. Buono believes Hufnagel was never going to let Dickenson defect and Dickenson’s ties to Calgary — his wife Tammy is an Alberta girl, it’s close to his Montana home, and his brother Craig was a longtime assistant with the Stamps — would ultimately tip the scales that way.
Dickenson doesn’t dispute that.
“I love it here in Vancouver. I still do. But, ultimately, when I got back to Calgary and close to Montana, that was kind of where my heart was.”
As for the decision to cut him after the 2007 season, Dickenson understands that, too.
“We both looked at each other and knew it was the end of the road. No hard feelings. I would have cut myself. I was making too much and I had head issues.”
But, tonight, all that will be forgotten. The Lions are planning a big sendoff for Wally Legend and the guests of honour will include a number of Dickenson’s former teammates.
“I had a great group of teammates, guys I still stay in touch with,” he said. (Jason) Clermont is going to be here. I love Geroy (Simon), (Cory) Mantyka will be here, Kelly Bates, Brent Johnson. Those are my guys.”
And they all connect through the same man, the man they will honour in a night to remember.