The reference surfaced again on Thursday, just as it has often in Calgary this off-season. And, like it or not, John Hufnagel will hear it a lot during his first year as the Stampeders new GM and head coach.
And it's a word that would make anybody, anywhere in pro sports squirm: 'saviour.'
Calgary GM/coach John Hufnagel
"Truthfully, all the focus should be on the players," began Hufnagel as the CFL conducted the first of its 2008 'State of the Franchise' media conference calls. "They're the people that get the credit when we are successful and when we're not successful I catch the flak. That's how it should be. I want to focus on our players and try to make them better football players, get back on track because they did not have a good end to the season last year.
"We have some great personnel in this locker room and I'd like to augment that personnel with a sprinkling of some new things, new changes, new systems and see if we can come out of the gates running."
That's a fair-enough, politically-correct answer. But Hufnagel IS the new face of a Stampeder franchise that -- despite as much talent as any in the CFL -- has done nothing but disappoint over the past few years. This is a team that has been eliminated in each of the last three West Division Semifinals and hasn't won a playoff game since upsetting the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 2001 Grey Cup.
Call them the 'Stam-teasers.'
Enter Hufnagel, the former Bomber QB-turned coach who last roamed the CFL sidelines as an assistant in 1996 before landing this current gig to replace Tom Higgins last December. And with the Grey Cup coming to Calgary in 2009, Hufnagel is charged with not only righting the ship, but doing it quickly.
His first priority: repairing what was the CFL's worst defensive unit a year ago and reacquainting himself with a league that has undergone some radical changes in his absence -- some of which he saw glimpses of last year as a guest coach with the B.C. Lions.
"(The guest-coaching job) allowed me to reconnect with the league and it also allowed me to see the change that has occurred over the last 10-12 years and be better prepared for this upcoming season," said Hufnagel. "I still have a long way to go, don't get me wrong.
"When I left the CFL it was to become a general manager and head coach in the Arena Football League (with the New Jersey Red Dogs). When I arrived to that team they had an office, a phone and a TV/VCR combo as my digital department. I didn't have any players, I didn't have any uniforms and I had to play a game in four months... I learned a lot then and I kept on learning through the 12 years I was out of the CFL. I look forward to this challenge. I know there are going to be some bumps and I have some growing to do, but I'm very excited about it."
This is the first of the CFL's annual State of the Franchise conference calls. Next: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers on May 13.
ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca
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