Major changes expected for Calgary Stampeders in CFL off-season

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Dropped details did in the Calgary Stampeders during the 2024 CFL season.

That was the consensus sentiment among those Stampeders tapped to do exit interviews with the media Sunday.

So because of it, there will be much attention to detail paid to the roster — on all fronts of it, including both players and the coaching staff — in the upcoming off-season.

Change is, indeed, coming.

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“Yeah … I definitely think as an organization, you do what’s the best to win — and we haven’t done that,” said Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson. “So we’re ready and prepared to improve. And there are some areas I definitely have targeted.

“We’re going to have to do some fixing. I’m confident we can do that.”

That might start with Dickenson himself, depending on conversations had with president Jay McNeil and special adviser John Hufnagel.

Whether the CFL veteran returns is the first item on the agenda.

And if so, does he come back in the dual role of GM and head coach that he’s held for the last two years?

The wily ol’ QB says he’s ready to get to work on the future for the Red and White.

“I have a plan,” said Dickenson, 51. “I do expect it to work and just have to see how it goes as we move forward. Like I feel confident I’ve got an idea of where this team fell short. And for myself, I do think there’s some things as an organization we need to do better.

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“I’ll probably have more answers here in a few days.”

Good thing, because there were not enough answers during the 5-12-1 debacle of 2024.

Just more and more questions, as the losses — including eight in their last 10 games — mounted.

The faces of each unit — offensive captain Reggie Begelton, defensive standout Cam Judge and kicking legend René Paredes — feel like they know what went wrong.

“This year was a testament to details and professionalism — just everybody looking at themselves and asking themselves how much they love this game,” Begelton said. “And that comes in terms of you doing the extra work and you not wanting to let your teammates down. So you do the right thing every time — just being the best version of yourself. If you strive to be the best version of yourself, then I promise a lot of good things will happen.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys who haven’t had that guidance,” continued Begelton. “Ignorance is bliss, and it comes with experience, and hopefully, you know, a lot of them have got a year under their belt now. So it’s one of those things where you say, ‘Are you going to take that next level — do you really want to win? Or are you here for a cheque?‘ So it’s a character-building type of year, and we’ll see who actually did work in an off-season in the spring.”

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That is who actually pays attention to — and respects — the details of their football duties.

“It was the details,” agreed all-star linebacker Judge. “I think sometimes we strayed away from the details, especially in big moments in the game, which is when you want to be on top of them. Sometimes it’s maybe guys even trying to do too much who are having a good game.

“So I feel like it wasn’t just a lot of glaring issues,” continued Judge. “I felt, honestly, regardless of what happened, it was all the little things that added up. Maybe you add them together, that is a glaring issue. So definitely we need to be more fine-tuned on the details, game to game.

“We’d be playing a good game, and then the last half of the fourth quarter — maybe even the whole fourth quarter — it’s like we don’t know how to play football. So it’s tough because you know we can do it and we’ve been doing it the same night.”

After such a sloppy season, nobody is exempt from the off-season business now at hand.

The process began Sunday with exit interviews, medical checks and clearing up paperwork. Then after a team party Monday, each player and coach heads home knowing — should they return — the 2025 Stampeders will be a much different-looking group in the spring.

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It has to be after the year that wasn’t.

“We’ll start with our individual meetings,” Dickenson said. “We’ll see how it fits. But … yeah … everybody’s got to be better.

“I expect there has to be some change in the team and the way we do things,” continued the GM/head coach. “I mean … you’ve got to get your options first. You know … CFL free agency doesn’t even start till the middle of February. So you can make all these plans to do this and do that, but you may not be able to do them. You’re at the mercy of what’s available. But we’ll start out and we’ll look at everything from personnel to scouting to communication to coaching to positional meetings to strength and conditioning and training.

“We need to take a big breath, and then you go look at it and try to find the right balance.”

And hopefully return with a better feel for 2025 to move the Stampeders back in the direction of their high standard of the last 20 CFL seasons.

“As a player that 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,” added super-kicker Parades, who confirmed he will return to the team — at age 40 — in 2025. “You know … we haven’t won a playoff game since 2018. You know … we haven’t had a home game in the playoffs since ’18. And last year, we barely made the playoffs. And this year, we didn’t. So it’s tough for me to say, but we’ve been declining as an organization.

“Things have got to change.”

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

X: @ToddSaelhofPM

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