Dave Dickenson to return as Stampeders' coach and general manager next season

Calgary Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson yells at a referee during first half CFL pre-season action against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Winnipeg Friday, May 31, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods)

Dave Dickenson will return as head coach and general manager of the Calgary Stampeders in 2025 despite the CFL club's worst season in two decades.

"He's earned the right and the opportunity to turn this around in 2025 and he has our full support," Stampeders president Jay McNeil said Monday at McMahon Stadium. 

"Dave and I have worked incredibly hard over the past three weeks to build a plan for success in 2025 and we believe in that.

"We will be aggressive in how we build our team for next year."

Calgary (5-12-1) finished at the bottom of the West Division with the worst record in the CFL after 18 consecutive seasons of reaching the playoffs. 

But the Stampeders made the playoffs in 2023 with a 6-12 record and have finished well under .500 in back-to-back years for the first time since 2003 and 2004.

"It's been incredibly hard," McNeil said. "We expect to win every time we take the field, and we haven't done that enough over the last two years, and we've got to get back to fixing that.

"Losing has been tough, and I know the organization feels that way, from our ownership group right through our players and our business operations."

Dickenson will enter his ninth year as head coach and third as GM in 2025. The former CFL quarterback has been on Calgary's coaching staff for 16 years.

He navigated Calgary to a Grey Cup win in 2018 in the team's third straight appearance in the championship game. 

Dickenson's regular-season record as Calgary's head coach is 84-53-3 and 4-6 in the playoffs.

"I have a plan. I do expect it to work," Dickenson said Sunday in a video posted on team's website.

The quarterback question continues into the off-season as Jake Maier's contract expires and Stampeders indicated in the back half of the season changes are afoot at that position.

Matthew Shiltz started two straight games before a neck injury ruled him out of Saturday's season finale in Regina, where Maier and the Stampeders earned the club's lone road win with a 27-12 decision over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Logan Bonner also started Sept. 6 in place of Maier.

In Maier's 15 starts, he ranked fourth among CFL quarterbacks in yards (3,841) and third in touchdowns (22), but he also ranked third in interceptions (22) and well down the list in efficiency among starters (97.7 per cent).

Calgary's woes can't all be attributed to Maier, as the defence's 527 points against was second-worst behind Hamilton's 557. The Stampeder defence was the CFL's worst at stopping the rush.

Maier, 27, is among 32 Stampeders headed for free agency in February.

The Stampeders have been the CFL's model of operations continuity, with just two men serving as head coach and GM the last 17 years and many position coaches in their jobs for several years.

John Hufnagel groomed Dickenson to be his successor in both positions as the former moved onto become club president, and then special adviser when former Stampeder offensive lineman McNeil became president this year.

So the club continues to hold course with Dickenson in the face of expectations of a shakeup after a dismal season.

"We're not going to make knee-jerk reactions," McNeil said. "I know fans want change and they want it today, but that's not the best way to do this."

The Stampeders have finished with 10 or more wins 13 of the last 17 seasons, but lost the division semifinal four straight years since hoisting the Grey Cup in 2018, and missed the post-season altogether this year.

"As a player that's been here so long, it's tough to see," said veteran Stampeders kicker Rene Paredes, who confirmed Sunday he'll return for a 14th season in 2025. "Things have to happen."

"We've been declining the past five years. I'll be straight honest. We haven't won a playoff game since '18. We haven't had a home game in the playoffs since '18. Last year we barely made the playoffs and this year we didn't."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2024