Stamps Officially Announce Succession Plan

[Lions4ever]

Read it & weep (or not, up to you):

http://www.stampeders.com/article/hufna ... oming-back

[dupsdell1]

Ok much For Dickenson coming here puts that to rest.

[SammyGreene]

Good for DD. His roots are firmly established in Calgary now and he is a big part of their success. Lions stood a better chance after Wally stepped down in 2011 but Benny was his guy. Too bad.

[WestCoastJoe]

There we go.

http://www.stampeders.com/article/hufna ... oming-back

Hufnagel is coming back2014-12-03 14:55:02

By Stampeders.com staff

John Hufnagel is coming back.

The Stampeders head coach and general manager since 2008, Hufnagel made the official announcement on Wednesday.

“In order to put an end all the speculation and all the questions, I would like to clarify the matter once and for all by announcing that I will be returning for one more season on the sideline with the Stampeders,” said Hufnagel. “In 2016, I will concentrate on the general manager’s duties and turn the head coach job over to Dave Dickenson, who has contributed greatly to our team’s success as offensive coordinator and has all the tools to be an excellent head coach in this league.”

Coach Huff will add to an already impressive coaching resume that includes the best winning percentage in CFL history — .702 — among coaches with at least 100 games.

This past season, he joined a select club by winning 15 regular-season games and a Grey Cup title. Don Matthews and Marc Trestman are the only other coaches to accomplish that feat.

By winning a second Grey Cup last week, Huff joined a group of coaches with multiple CFL championships that includes legends such as Matthews, Wally Buono, Ron Lancaster, Hugh Campbell, Marv Levy, Bud Grant and Frank Clair.

Hufnagel has a career regular-season record of 88-37-1 including a remarkable a 38-9 mark (an .809 winning percentage) since Aug. 25, 2012.

Perhaps Hufnagel’s greatest trait as a head coach is his ability to lead his team through adversity — for example, the injuries that kept a number of all-stars including 2013 Most Outstanding Player award winner Jon Cornish out for significant portions of the 2014 season.

In seven seasons with Huff at the controls, the Stamps have lost back-to-back games only six times and have never lost as many as three in a row. By comparison, Calgary has 16 winning streaks of at least three games and 13 runs of at least four victories.

Hufnagel and Tom Higgins are the only coaches in CFL history to have coached at least seven seasons without ever missing the playoffs.

Coach Huff will add to an already impressive coaching resume that includes the best winning percentage in CFL history — .702 — among coaches with at least 100 games.

This past season, he joined a select club by winning 15 regular-season games and a Grey Cup title. Don Matthews and Marc Trestman are the only other coaches to accomplish that feat.

Great Head Coach. And great GM. The best in the league.

A tough act to follow? Dickenson might be the guy to do it. Solid organization. Great succession plan.

As close as Sunday's game was, it is fitting, IMO, that Hufnagel wins a second Grey Cup. Inevitably his legacy would be tarnished, perhaps unfairly, as unable to win more titles, if they had lost once again. And to make it that close on Sunday, IMO, is a credit to another outstanding GM/HC, Kent Austin and his group.

The Flagship of the League, in Calgary.

[WestCoastJoe]

Credentials upon credentials ... Hufnagel and then Dickenson

Many stops along the way for Hufnagel.

[South Pender]

It's good that this has been resolved quickly. Wally now needs to move quickly, although not hastily, in finding his new HC. I think this is important because we want the new guy to still have some chance at landing the best coordinators and/or coaches before they're snapped up by the competition.

[WestCoastJoe]

The Calgary "brain trust." Their area of expertise, amongst others ... the Xs and Os of football.

[jmc24]

There was NEVER a doubt.

[Hambone]

Good for DD. His roots are firmly established in Calgary now and he is a big part of their success. Lions stood a better chance after Wally stepped down in 2011 but Benny was his guy. Too bad.

Although at that time I think one easily would've questioned if Dickenson was ready for a HC position. He was only 3 years removed from playing with 2 years as a position coach and 1 as a coordinator. He's since added 3 more years as an OC to his resume and is obviously much better prepared to take that next step than he might've been in 2012. We'll never know what the results might've been but we could've been lamenting why Wally went outside the organization to take an inexperienced coach when he had somebody like Benevides sitting inhouse with so much more experience.

[TheLionKing]

Can we finally put Dickenson coming to BC as OC or Head Coach to rest ?

[Toppy Vann]

Can we finally put Dickenson coming to BC as OC or Head Coach to rest ?

Of course not. There will always be someone or many who will suggest that they can make him an offer he can't refuse and he'd be back here in a flash.

Me. I never thought he would consider this at all seriously.

[MexicoLionFan]

Good for DD. His roots are firmly established in Calgary now and he is a big part of their success. Lions stood a better chance after Wally stepped down in 2011 but Benny was his guy. Too bad.

Although at that time I think one easily would've questioned if Dickenson was ready for a HC position. He was only 3 years removed from playing with 2 years as a position coach and 1 as a coordinator. He's since added 3 more years as an OC to his resume and is obviously much better prepared to take that next step than he might've been in 2012. We'll never know what the results might've been but we could've been lamenting why Wally went outside the organization to take an inexperienced coach when he had somebody like Benevides sitting inhouse with so much more experience.

You have to be kidding me? And MB was ready? With DD Wally could have stayed on one more season and made DD Asst. HC and we would have had an intelligent man running this operation, instead of the mess we find ourself in...when you think you know more than the game reveals, then you always end up in trouble with the game...Wally has seen himself as "bigger than the game" for a long time, and the game has humbled him. His next decision will be the most important in Lions history because of his reckless choice to "groom" MB as the Lions next coach...the game told him that there were BETTER coaches available and he ignored it!

[notahomer]

It's good that this has been resolved quickly. Wally now needs to move quickly, although not hastily, in finding his new HC. I think this is important because we want the new guy to still have some chance at landing the best coordinators and/or coaches before they're snapped up by the competition.

Thats how I feel too South P. Coordinators are obviously a big part of the Head Coachs success too. Makes you wonder how a once feared part of the Stamps, the defence, (especially when Jones was leading the D) will be with DD being Head Coach? Sure he'll do fine but you always wonder....

[cromartie]

You have to be kidding me? And MB was ready?

From a bona fides standpoint, yes he was. He was given the chance to coach a position, coordinate Special Teams (which should not be underestimated when it comes to the development of an applicable skillset to a HC), coordinate a Defense and run the draft.

Those are solid bona fides in preparation for a Head Coaching position. The fact that he failed at it doesn't mean that he wasn't groomed and prepared properly for it. A great many people receive the proper education and training for a position at which they subsequently fail. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink correctly.

DD managed his money well and loves Calgyra. While I wouldn't choose Calgyra over Vancouver, that's Dave's call and good for him, I suppose.

[Sir Purrcival]

Can we finally put Dickenson coming to BC as OC or Head Coach to rest ?

There are a number of reasons why it can't be completely put to bed. Until DD is officially head coach of the Stamps, he isn't. Things can change, priorities can change. One never knows. Some Montana University HC job could come his way and for way more money. His wife could end up getting a high paying job in Vancouver (don't know if she works or what she does, just saying). There is a reason that Huff put this out so quickly. It was to put off suitors and hope and I do mean hope that by anointing DD as heir apparent publicly will dissuade others from trying to lure him away. Huff could have told all this to DD privately with no need for the public disclosure. Why would he do it do you think. Maybe to avoid a bidding war, maybe to reassure DD that his intentions are more than just words? Any of us who had hopes were very realistic about the chances being small that DD would ever come back to BC but until either a HC is hired here or DD is hired as HC in Calgary, it isn't impossible, just very unlikely.

A lot of this would come down to what DD really wants and if he is prepared to wait one more year. Most suggest that he is quite fine with that and are more than likely correct. As the saying goes however, "it never hurts to ask". I'm guessing that the difference in salary between an OC and HC is pretty significant. It could be considered a big ask for someone to put off for one more year a more important job and higher salary. An important consideration in this capricious industry. The wise person has to consider whether it is better to take something for certain now or defer to the future. A future that might not come. So while is might be 99.9% unlikely to happen, it won't be put completely to bed until a HC is hired here that isn't DD.

Signed,

Ricky Foley