Calgary Stampeders open bid to put ugly 2023 CFL season behind them

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Dave Dickenson wants to leave the past in the past.

In the dust is actually his aim, with a successful bounce-back CFL campaign for his Calgary Stampeders in 2024.

So when peppered with questions ahead of the season opener, the Stampeders boss was quick to dismiss the ugly 6-13 performance of last year.

“You guys love 2023,” said Dickenson, with a chuckle to the media mass gathered to talk about the Stampeders on Thursday morning at McMahon Stadium.

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“None of us were happy about it, but it’s a new team,” continued the Stamps GM/head coach. “My mom’s a history teacher, so if we don’t learn from the past, we’re going to basically make the same mistakes. So I do think you learn from it.

“But you’ve got to move forward.”

So they will — hopefully with a win out of the gate — on Friday night, when Dickenson and the Stampeders open their schedule of the CFL regular season by hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at McMahon Stadium (7 p.m., TSN, QR Calgary).

And make no mistake, it is a fresh start for the Red and White.

“I don’t care (about last year) — I don’t,” Dickenson said. “Because from one year to the next, it just doesn’t matter to me.

“This team is hungry, but they’re young. I do believe that we have some guys that haven’t been a part of us for a long, long time. And then you look at our captains and I feel really confident about our leadership.

“No time to think about the past. Let’s move forward.”

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That begins at quarterback, where Jake Maier is looking to improve on his own pedestrian performance of last year.

And the fourth-year QB does admit a peek back at 2023 does have its place in his push to be better at the team’s controls.

“You do use it as motivation,” said Maier, the Stamps starter. “I don’t think it can be your number-one motivating factor — I really don’t. You can’t wake up every day and get up to prove the world wrong or set the world straight. I don’t think you can live like that. I’m not going to stand here and say it’s not real, but at the same time, I don’t think it can be your number-one motivating factor. I really don’t.

“My head is pretty simple, man,” continued the QB. “It’s just about how well we can play every week. I’m trying to get my point across to everybody that it really doesn’t matter who we play or what they have or who they are. If we play well, we have plenty of win in us. And the more we can just focus on our inner self and how well we can play, then we’re going to be just fine.

“You try to avoid all the outside noise and all the external rankings and opinions that people may have about us or people that may have opinions about teams that they think are better than us.

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“I don’t care — I just want to play well.”

If he doesn’t, he’ll hear the criticism quickly.

Maier knows it’s already out there about him — produce ASAP or else, and all that.

He can’t avoid it, especially after a tough 2023 — his second full schedule as the starter when he threw for 4,244 yards, third most among CFL QBs — but was handcuffed by a low 62.8% completion percentage and 15 interceptions thrown against just 19 touchdowns.

“It’s inevitable that you see it,” said Maier of the fault-finding. “You’re told about it. If you have a phone, you’re going to see it. And obviously, (the media) will talk about it every now and then, right? So it’s inevitable, but it doesn’t take up much of my thoughts or my day-to-day.”

But perhaps it can help fuel the fire for 2024.

Just ask the Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes.

“It naturally gets brought up,” confirmed Maier, of last year’s rags-to-riches story authored by the Alouettes. “You see some of the sound bytes of the way some of their players talking about how, ‘Hey … we went from being picked last in everybody’s mind to now being league champions.’ I’m sure they thought it was fun. I really thought it was cool watching that team get to the Grey Cup.

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“I think everybody laughs at the Week 0 rankings,” continued the QB. “I mean … what do we know? A game hasn’t been played yet.”

And that should be motivation enough, says the head coach.

“You’re motivated because you want to win and put your team in the best position to win a championship,” Dickenson said. “I don’t have the motivation of last year, so I’m just going to put that to rest.

“The motivation comes from we are a club and an organization that has a high standard and we want to live up to that every year and every game,” added Dickenson. “And with our fanbase, we need to bring people back to McMahon, and I think this is the team to do it. We need to come out here and win at McMahon, put on a good show and try to fill this place up, because that’s when it’s the most fun.”

SHORT YARDAGE

B.J. Emmons, an off-season signing, gets the start at running back over RB Dedrick Mills … With Malik Henry (leg) lost for the season, Cam Echols steps in to start at receiver, along with fellow fresh-face American hands-man Eric Brooks — both out wide … First-round draftees Cole Tucker and Jalen Philpot start at slotback, alongside veteran Reggie Begelton … On defence, Charles Wiley gets the starting assignment at defensive tackle, while fellow American Bentlee Sanders lines up at safety. That moves versatile American Brendan Dozier to the strong-side linebacker spot, playing as the sixth man in the secondary. Also new to starting positions on the Stamps defence are CB Demerio Houston and DB Rodney Randle Jr., while DB Kobe Williams wins the job at the halfback spot opposite Randle … The Stamps put QB Logan Bonner, RB Peyton Logan, WR Tre Odoms-Dukes, OL Rodeem Brown, OL Trevon Tate and DB Nick Statz on the one-game injured list … Those Stamps put on the club’s six-game IL are Henry, WR Rysen John, RB William Langlais (foot), OL Kyle Saxelid, DB Daniel Amoako, LB Darius Williams and DL Jason Janvier-Messier.

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

X: @ToddSaelhofPM

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