Good article posted below on the success of the Calgary Stampeders during the Hufnagel era from 2008 to this season.
One of the many reasons why Hufnagel has been so successful is his coaching background. This is a General Manager who guided the Stamps as a Head Coach and then mentored Dave Dickenson.
Hufnagel had many seasons as an offensive coordinator in both the CFL and NFL, as well as being an NFL quarterbacks coach.
Buono only had two seasons as an assistant coach and one season as a defensive coordinator in Calgary before he became the Stamps GM and HC. Buono coached a very simple scheme in Calgary in his one season as a defensive coordinator.
Buono was also very fortunate in Calgary to have Hufnagel as his offensive coordinator, Flutie and Garcia as his quarterbacks, (who were also coached by Hufnagel) and Shivers as his personnel director (who borught in a ton of talent) during that time.
When Buono was not surrounded by people with a lot of football knowledge in Calgary the team slid quickly. When Buono had two losing regular seasons in Calgary he was fired after going 6-10 in his last season.
Good fortune happened again for Buono in his first five seasons in B.C. With Ackles providing guidance and having lots of NFL connections, with Dickenson signed as his quarterback for Buono's first season in B.C., with O'Billovich bringing in talent, and with Ritchie coaching the defense for a period of time, our Leos enjoyed lots of regular season success from 2003-2007 and won a Grey Cup in 2006.
But since that Grey Cup win in 2006, we've only played in one Grey Cup game since. Buono has either been the HC/GM during that period of time or we've had one of his handpicked choices coaching the team.
While Buono is often attributed with developing quarterbacks he has never coached one or coordinated an offence. Hufnagel, while offensive coordinator in Calgary was the the coach who brought the concept of having backup quarterbacks get a lot of practice reps and it was Hufnagel's offensive spread formation, a concept that was ahead of the curve, that played sucha a role in Calgary's success in the 90's in Calgary.
In fact, without wearing a headset nor huddling with his offensive coordinator, Buono doesn't even know what offensive play is being called on most play calls during a football game.
Mostly, what Buono does during a game is bite his lip, cross his arms, get angry at players coming off the field, and decide whether to punt or gamble on third and one (and he usually punts)
When Buono does get involved in direct coaching (Jumbo team, special teams return game) its usually a disaster. Buono's game management and game calls have always been an issue.
Buono really missed out on not having enough of a solid coaching background prior to becoming a Head Coach and has always deferred to assistants due to that lack of coaching background.
I was recently surprised at Pauser's comment that, on Lionbackers, we are always complaining about our offensive scheme even though we've had different offensive coordinators.
But in reality, we really haven't had different offensive coordination since the latter half of 2004, when Buono shipped Burratto to the spotters booth and brought down Chap to the sidelines to call the plays. With the exception of 2007, when Hufnagel served as an offensive consultant and 2011 and 2012, when Chap was allowed to bring in a few motion/misdirection plays and some pro sets into the spread offence, we've ran the same offensive scheme. Its the same scheme that Hufnagel introduced in Calgary in the early 1990's.
It really didn't matter if Chap or Kruck or Dorazio or Chap again, or Khari Jones or Cortez or Khari Jones again is the offensive coordinator - its the same offensive scheme, with some minor variations. So there is no difference no matter who is coordinating the offence or calling the plays.
The same has taken place for the defense, unless there was a formibable defensive coordinator like Ritchie or Stubler coaching the defense. There is no difference between Benevedes or Washington coaching the defence. Its still basically the same passive zone defensive scheme that Buono played as a linebacker in Montreal and the same zone defensive scheme he used in his one season as a defensive coordinator in Calgary.
When we played Calgary last week, the Stamps had our recivers well covered and were jumping our routes. We're easy to pre-scout because we are very predictable.
Wally Buono came into this season, coming off an 11-7 season, and with a team that was loaded with talent. His only real challenges were to find a rush end to replace Bazzie, an outside linebacker to replace Bighill, and to punter/kicker to replace Leone.
But we've regressed, mostly because we don't adapt. There is a reason why Calgary has been so good since 2008 and we mostly haven't been.
Hufnagel has a knowledge and understanding of football that Buono can't compete with. Buono has chosen to go with assistant coaches that he has not been able to develop into top notch coordinators because he doesn't know how. The biggest laugh I've had was during the time when Buono said he would 'mentor' Chap, after Chap was feeling heat from the fans for his offence.
Buono doesn't have a clue about how to mentor an offensive coordinator. He has never designed an offence or even an offensive play. The press and the average fan bought the comment as if it was true. It shows what you can get away with.
Presently, with a boatload of talent, we rank 6th in the CFL in offence and defense.
It was interesting, when Buono was interviewed after the loss to Calgary and he said "Guys, you can say scheme or you can say execution but Calgary made plays and we didn't'. Their players made catches and our players didn't'. It was the same basic denial and deflection that he is so good at.
When we didn't make key scheme changes in the bye week, I realized that this season comes down to this: Our players will have to execute at a very, very high level to overcome our predictability and 'make exceptional plays' that overcome our schemes if we hope to make the playoffs and do something if we get there.
Its a tall order.
Here is the article below:
'We’ll take that as a compliment': Why the Calgary Stampeders are the New England Patriots of the CFL
The Stampeders are 127-44-3 since GM John Hufnagel joined the organization in 2008, which compares nicely with Bill Belichick's record
While it seems like a gaudy comparison, the numbers reveal the truth: the Calgary Stampeders are the New England Patriots of the CFL.
“We’ll take that as a compliment,” Stampeders general manager John Hufnagel told Postmedia this week.
“I don’t know whether it’s fair or unfair. I’m not complaining about the comparison.”
The Stampeders lead the CFL with a 10-1-1 record this season and are 25-3-2 over the last two regular seasons.
That record is nothing new for a team that is now 127-44-3 since Hufnagel joined the organization in 2008. It compares with the record Bill Belichick has as head coach of the Patriots. Since 2000, New England is 201-71, for a winning percentage of .738. The Stampeders’ winning percentage since Hufnagel’s arrival is .730.
Obviously, I had the privilege to work for that organization for a year,” said Hufnagel, who was quarterbacks coach with the Super Bowl champion Patriots in 2003. “I know what they promote and I honestly I have tried to instill some of that in the program that I started back in 2008.”
Hufnagel handed the coaching reins to his protégé, Dave Dickenson, in 2016, and all the new sideline boss has done is win 25 games, while losing only three.
“It’s nice to win,” Hufnagel said. “It’s a lot, lot better to win a championship.
“We’ve been very fortunate. We have had good records and we have been up there in the dance. We’ve had fun at the dance and we’ve been disappointed at the dance.
“Each year is it’s own challenge and each year we work hard to try to win a championship.”
Since 2008, the most losses the Stamps had in a season was seven. The fewest wins they had was 10. They won 15 games twice, 14 games twice and 13 games twice.
The last time they lost two games in a row was in July of 2012. That span will reach 100 games on Sunday, when the Stampeders face the Roughriders in Saskatchewan.
The Stampeders have never lost three games in a row since Hufnagel started.
“We really haven’t stubbed our toes for a while as far as not being prepared to play,” Hufnagel said. “We haven’t always won, but we’ve always battled. There haven’t been a whole lot of blowouts because our guys weren’t ready to play. If we lose, it’s because the other team played better than us, not because we didn’t put the hard work in during the week.”
It would be fair to say in the case of the Stampeders that winning breeds more winning. The success of the team allows management to recruit some of the best available talent — as coaches and players — and allows them to hold onto them.
“I would think that has a part of it,” Hufnagel said. “The players come here and they expect to be very, very competitive. The players we bring in from other teams, I’ll ask them, ‘What’s the difference of playing in our organization or the other one you came from?’ not thinking they’ll praise us, but just trying to find out what the other organizations do to help me make this program better. They say, ‘There’s not a lot, it’s just the expectations are a lot greater.’
“So, it goes with the territory.”
Continuity is a huge part of success. There have been many of coaches hired and fired in the CFL since Hufnagel arrived in Calgary. Just look at where the teams that have fired coaches recently are in the standings this year (Hamilton is 2-9, Montreal is 3-9).
Meanwhile, Calgary is purring along again, looking primed to host the West final and make it to the Grey Cup for a second straight year.
“I’ve been fortunate,” Hufnagel said. “I’ve had a lot of loyalty on my staff. Obviously, some people have left because of better opportunities, as they should. I’ve lost some players because the gap between the offers was just too much for them to not take. But I have a lot of players who understand how we try to do things and maybe they accept a little bit less from us instead of moving on.”
The head-coaching transition from Hufnagel to Dickenson has worked out beautifully. The Stampeders have seemingly not missed a beat and players like quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, running back Jerome Messam and middle linebacker Alex Singleton are thriving under the new coach.
“It has worked out well,” Hufnagel said. “It was a decision that I thought would allow us to continue to have a great chance to be successful, also knowing that we were a better organization with Dave and I in the building than with only one of us.
“Dave was on the fringe of being a hot head-coach candidate. I made a decision that, in my mind, was best for the organization, and I had no doubt that Dave would do a great job.”
SINGLING OUT A STAR
When the Stampeders used the seventh pick of the 2016 CFL draft to select linebacker Alex Singleton, they were pretty sure they were getting a steal.
It turns out they were absolutely right, as Singleton has proven to be an elite talent and the best player from that draft class.
Singleton, an American with non-import status, set a CFL record by recording at least 10 tackles in each of the last three games. Predictably, he was named one of the league’s top performers of the week on Tuesday.
He has 91 defensive tackles through 12 games this season.
“It’s not a surprise, truthfully,” Hufnagel said. “Again, this is good fortune. We had, I think, the seventh pick that year and he was still on the board. If we had the No. 1 pick in the draft, we would have selected him. We thought he was that good of a player and he has not disappointed us.”
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