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Calgary Stampeders lock in head coach Dave Dickenson until 2020 with extension

Jan 20, 2017 | 6:45 AM

CALGARY — Dave Dickenson wanted in for the long haul, and the Calgary Stampeders agreed.

The Stampeders and Dickenson announced a three-year contract extension Friday that makes him the CFL team’s head coach through the 2020 season.

Dickenson was named the CFL’s coach of the year in 2016 when he set the league record for most wins by a rookie head coach.

The Stampeders went 15-2-1 and handily beat the B.C. Lions in the West Division final. Calgary was a perfect 9-0 at home and had a 16-game unbeaten streak.

A stellar season ended with a thud, however. The heavy favourites were upset 39-33 in overtime by the Ottawa Redblacks (8-9-1) in the Grey Cup.

Dickenson feels it was nevertheless a successful season. He wanted to stay and produce more of them.

“It’s no secret that I’m basically a Calgarian and I love it here,” Dickenson said Friday at McMahon Stadium. “Probably not the best for my negotiations, but it really didn’t come down to that.

“I have preached a lot trust and loyalty. I’m not in it for the one year. I don’t want players being selfish that way. I don’t coach that way. I don’t want my staff to be that way.

“It was important to commit to the club and for them to show back the loyalty and the trust for a four-year deal is big for me. Gives your family a sense of where you are going to be.”

Financial terms of the deal were not released.

The 44-year-old quarterback from Great Falls, Mont., joined Calgary’s coaching staff in 2009 after retiring as a player.

Dickenson was John Hufnagel’s offensive co-ordinator for five seasons before Hufnagel handed the coaching reins to him.

Hufnagel, who continued as general manager, says Dickenson proved his mettle in 2016.

“I saw first-hand Dave’s work on the field, in the classroom, interacting with both the coaching staff and the players,” Hufnagel said. “Last year, the transition was very seamless.

“Dave continued with the motto of coaching with trust and integrity and honesty and the players wanted to play for Dave. He captured the locker-room very quickly. All those things, plus his winning record, had a lot to do with the decision.”

The deal continues the stability of management that has been Hufnagel’s trademark in his nine years in Calgary. 

“We did have consistency during the eight years I was the head coach. Dave was part of that,” Hufnagel said.

“That was why a couple years ago when I suggested the move at that time, the long-range view was we would have this consistency year in and year out.”

Starting quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell is under contract until 2018. The Stampeders announced earlier in January that all 10 of Dickenson’s assistant coaches would be back in 2017.

“If you sign coaches to two-year deals and then you’re not going to sign, that doesn’t show good faith,” Dickenson said.

“Everyone came back on board, which doesn’t always happen. For the whole staff to buy back in and come back and take another run at this thing hopefully for many, many more years, that meant a lot to me.”

All CFL teams are in the throes of signing and re-signing players ahead of the start of free agency Feb. 14. The Stampeders have brought league sack leader Charleston Hughes and kickers Rob Maver and Rene Paredes back into the fold.

There’s still key players such as left tackle Derek Dennis, the CFL’s offensive lineman of the year, and veteran receiver Marquay McDaniel, a favourite target of Mitchell’s, still unsigned

“Negotiations, truthfully, go all the way up to the day of free agency,” Hufnagel said.

Dickenson says he’ll “stay in my lane” and let Hufnagel deal with player contracts.

“I’ve got a lot on my plate still running the offence and still a young coaching staff that I’ve got to make sure they get better,” he said.

“I need to be better at helping all three sides of the ball. There’s a lot I’m going to work hard at to get better and negotiating contracts is not one of them.”

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press