With the CFL meetings taking place at Kananaskis, Alberta this week, Dave Dickenson is attending the meetings in his dual role of head coach and general manager of the Calgary Stampeders.
The general manager duties were added to Dickenson’s job title earlier this offseason with longtime general manager John Hufnagel remaining with the franchise as the team’s president.
On Tuesday, the former Stampeders quarterback joined the SportsCage with Michael Ball.
Stamps Quarterbacks
After spending his playing days behind centre, Dickenson has endured many issues at the quarterback position. This season as a head coach, he had to experience a quarterback controversy.
Bo Levi Mitchell began the season as the Stampeders starting quarterback. The 32-year-old had been the face of the franchise after spending a decade with Calgary and winning a pair of Grey Cup championships along with two Most Outstanding Player Awards.
Midway through the season, Dickenson made a change at QB and replaced Mitchell with Jake Maier. After a few weeks as the Stampeders signal caller, Maier signed a new contract extension with the team ensuring the 25-year was the new franchise quarterback.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Stampeders shipped Mitchell’s playing rights to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The quarterback has not agreed to terms with Hamilton as of yet and is scheduled to become a free agent on February 14.
Dickenson says it was difficult moving on from Mitchell.
“I felt it was the right move at the time.” He added that the quarterback switch was brewing for a few weeks before the move occurred.
With his new starter in Maier, the Stampeders head coach thinks his style of play is very similar to Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Stetson Bennett. He says despite their body appearance, they have the necessary tools to be a leader at the quarterback position.
“He’s (Maier) a lot better athlete than he gets credit for, he’s a winner.”
QB Coach, Marc Mueller
The Stampeders hung onto quarterbacks coach Marc Mueller this offseason after Saskatchewan interviewed the Regina product for the vacant offensive position that would eventually go to Kelly Jeffrey.
Dickenson says that the organization is more than happy to have Mueller back and envisions that the QB coach will have a bright future with Calgary’s coaching staff.
“I think he’s a good coach, great person, I think he’s getting better as a coach, he’s putting in all the time and effort in.”
With his ties to Regina, Dickenson says that Mueller would have faced a huge amount of pressure in his home town and says it doesn’t work out that often for those who return home to coach.
Coaching Counterpart and brother, Craig Dickenson
There’s a lot brotherly love when the Stampeders meet the Roughriders, with Dave’s brother Craig in place for another season as head coach in Saskatchewan.
Last season the Stampeders and Roughriders didn’t meet until the final two games of the regular season. The Stampeders head coach believes that the Roughriders were the victims of a string of bad luck in 2022 and thinks a fresh start and some new blood can do Saskatchewan some good in 2023.
After waiting all season to face each other in 2022, an early season battle will kick off the three-game series between the Stampeders and Riders when the two teams meet in Calgary on June 24.
To listen to Dave Dickenson’s full interview with Michael Ball, you can tune in https://open.spotify.com/show/4NrjXBK0W9SzijpzfCurUo?go=1&sp_cid=494031ee5cb923f0e3f2f9b2af2a6819&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1
