Guide to the 2025 Calgary Stampeders: 'It definitely has changed here'

Calgary Herald

03-06-2025

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In as the undisputed leader, given his charisma, is Vernon Adams Jr. The 10th-year CFL QB is bold and brash and can run the football as well as throw it.
Even his nickname — 'Big-Play V.A.' — lends to the change wanted at that position.
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'We want our fans also to feel like it's maybe a different look and a different feel and a different vibe,' Dickenson said. 'And we thought Vernon would help us there.
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'Flash is good. It's about winning, though.'
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The team also went out and got a few new shiny weapons for Adams, including receivers Dominique Rhymes and Tevin Jones — both CFL stars in their career — and young Damien Alford — picked first overall in the 2025 CFL Draft.
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'I'm very excited,' Adams said. 'I like us. I like what we did in free agency. We got some size and some speed. And we've got some depth. I'm excited about this year, about everybody we picked up.
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It became quite the project on the other side of the ball for the Stamps.
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So much so that the defence is foreign to fans, with just a handful of returning players on the 2025 roster.
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The changes are everywhere, with linemen Mike Rose and James Vaughters, linebackers Cam Judge and Micah Awe and defensive backs Demerio Houston, Branden Dozier, Tre Roberson and Kobe Williams all no longer with the Red and White — and those are just the high-profile names.
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However, top pass-rusher Folarin Orimolade returns to the Stamps, with whom he was with from 2018-22, bringing plenty of promise of increased pressure up front. 'Flo' is the prized return from the trade sending effective linebacker Judge to the Toronto Argonauts.
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To boot, it's now longtime NFL coach Bob Slowik running the show as defensive coordinator, replacing Brent Monson, who took the brunt of the coaching blame — along with longtime special-teams boss Mark Kilam — for the Stampeders failures the last few seasons. Both Monson and the popular Kilam were fired by the franchise immediately after last season closed without a playoff game for the club for the first time in 20 years.
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The Stamps are hoping 71-year-old Slowik brings what the defence needs to make a turnaround.
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'I can't say that it always works, but I do think sometimes a fresh voice or fresh voices — in this case with the staff that we have — maybe will make a difference,' Slowik said. 'You also need some new blood as far as the roster goes. That can't remain the same, either. So we'll see how things go.
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'I know we're going to start from the ground up. That's what I can tell you. We're starting with fundamentals and staying with fundamentals and not trying to get too far ahead of the game.'
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The team was finalized Sunday ahead of the league's cutdown deadline.
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Perhaps the biggest surprise was the axe of receiver Cam Echols, who proved dynamic in limited action for the Stampeders in his rookie season of 2024.
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Fellow speedy pass-catcher Ishmael Hyman was also cut ahead of the deadline.