For the first time in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders brought out the trash bags in the month of October and cleaned out their lockers as a losing team.
A decisive victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the regular-season finale did little to diffuse the aura of disappointment around the last-placed team in the CFL. A 5-12-1 record ended the longest playoff streak in North American sports and leaves the future of virtually every member of the organization in question heading into the offseason.
“As a player that’s been here for so long, it’s tough to see. Things have to happen. I’m getting calls and texts from alumni, players I played with, and they’re wondering what’s happening,” kicker Rene Paredes told reporters, a tinge of emotion in his voice.
“I don’t have the answers to that. But as a player who has been here for a long, long time, and loves the city and loves this organization, we’ve been declining the past five years — I’ll be straight honest. We haven’t won a playoff game since 2018. We haven’t had a home game in the playoffs since 2018. The past two years, last year we barely made the playoffs and this year, we didn’t. It’s tough for me to say, but we’ve been declining as an organization.”
Those harsh realities are obvious to anyone watching but it remains to be seen what the Stampeders plan to do to address them. After going 11-24-1 over the past two seasons, head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson wouldn’t address his future in the organization prior to meeting with team president Jay McNeil, who is scheduled to address the media on Monday. However, sources around the CFL believe he’ll get every opportunity to correct course.
“I have a plan and I do expect it to work. We just have to see how it goes as we move forward,” Dickenson shared on Sunday, remaining evasive as to the nature of that plan. “I feel confident I’ve got an idea of where this team fell short. And for myself, I do feel like there are some things as an organization we need to do better.”
The 51-year-old wouldn’t rule out eliminating one of his two job titles, having previously acknowledged the challenges of pulling double duty in professional football. The franchise’s fall from grace has coincided with Dickenson taking over the general manager title from John Hufnagel in 2023, though cracks started to form much earlier.
“I definitely think as an organization, you do what’s best to win. We haven’t done that,” Dickenson admitted. “We’re ready and prepared to improve, and there’s some areas I definitely have targeted. I feel good that we can do that.”
Chief among those areas is the quarterback position, where the shine has come off Jake Maier as the successor to Bo Levi Mitchell. The UC Davis product found himself benched twice in his second season as the full-time starter, although neither replacement was able to seize the Stampeders’ reins long-term.
While he was disappointed in the outcome for his team, Maier believes he was a better quarterback this year after throwing for 3,841 yards, 22 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. But with his contract set to expire in three and a half months, his departure seems far more certain than his coach’s.
“I understand what comes with losing seasons. I understand what comes with not making the playoffs. As far as (my future) goes, I have no idea,” Maier said frankly. “I’ve always loved representing this organization. I’ve loved representing this city. My daughter was born here, my wife loves it here. Everything that the Stampeders have provided for me in these last four years has changed my life. As far as the future goes, your guess is as good as mine.”
Dickenson praised Maier’s resilience in the regular-season finale, striking an almost nostalgic tone when describing his 293-yard, three-touchdown performance. He wouldn’t rule out bringing back the quarterback in some capacity but also suggested that assembling the best possible QB room would be the priority.
“I know how hard it can be, you’ve been replaced twice and yet, here you are in a game that they say is meaningless,” he said. “First off, you’re willing to put your body out there. You watch, he scrambled, he got two important first downs with his legs. I thought he did some great things. He’s also showcasing himself and he did a great job on that.”
Quarterbacks get the bulk of the criticism for any losing teams but after finishing near the league’s basement in both net offence and defence, there is blame to go around in Calgary. Multiple veteran Stampeders blamed the team’s five one-score losses on a lack of attention to detail and highlighted a rumoured generational rift between players.
Star receiver Reggie Begelton, who made similar comments earlier in the year, questioned whether some of his young teammates had the professionalism to strive to be the best versions of themselves.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys who haven’t had that guidance. Ignorance is bliss. It comes with experience,” he said. “Hopefully, a lot of them have got a year under their belt now so it’s one of those things where are you going to take it to that next level? Do you really want to win or are you here for a cheque? It is a character-building type of year and we’ll see who actually does work in the offseason.”
Long-time defensive tackle Mike Rose refused to pinpoint what went wrong with his unit, which finished eighth in the league in sacks, but alluded to similar challenges.
“That is not my job,” he shut down one reporter. “I think I did as best I could for what I was given.”
“I think if you want to have a successful D-line, the guys have to play together, work together, and continue to put in the work. It’s hard to makeshift stuff but some people make it work. Some people don’t. I think if you look at the year from a different perspective, as opposed to just stats, you’ll see the play might not be as bad as you think. Sometimes it’s not always what you think.”
Dickenson was also frustrated by mental errors, believing they may have been compounded by a decision to reduce practice reps in the hopes of staying healthier this year. The strategy served it’s purpose but the healthy players on the field failed to deliver when called upon.
The offseason will now be dominated by a mission to identify and acquire the athletes that can, with the personnel boss declining to list any current player as untouchable amidst the oncoming organizational changes.
“Whether that means a new guy from our league or a new guy that we bring into the CFL, there’s going to be competition. There has to be,” Dickenson said. “I don’t think anyone should feel comfortable now — we only won five games.”
Promising competition and delivering it are two different things, however. Dickenson offered no commitment that the organization would alter it’s almost pathologically conservative tendencies in free agency, wanting to see who might be available first before establishing any plans. The more important changes could come from addressing the team’s day-to-day operations, a process that will begin this week.
“CFL free agency doesn’t even start until the middle of February so you can make all these plans to do this and do that, but you might not be able to do them. You’re at the mercy of what’s available,” he cautioned. “But we’ll start out and we’ll look at everything from personnel to scouting to communication to coaching to positional meetings, strength and conditioning, and training.”
That isn’t much of a lighthouse in the fog for a once-pampered fanbase now forced to watch a declining team in a decaying stadium. Things aren’t much clearer for the organization’s longest-serving player, who only knows some type of upheaval is coming — one way or another.
“Obviously, I don’t have the answers. I don’t get paid for that. But when you go 5-12, things are gonna change. That’s not for me to decide,” Paredes insisted. “Like I said, I love the city, I love this organization. Hopefully something good comes out it.”