Dave Dickenson doesn’t want to talk about the past. He wants only to focus on the future.
But the Calgary Stampeders boss was asked — again — about “division within the dressing room” and “questions about the culture” Monday during his availability at the 2025 CFL Winter Meetings.
And the GM/head coach was adamant — again — about all that talk being the product of frustration in the face of the downward trend of his Canadian Football League franchise during the last few seasons.
“I’m good with the culture,” said Dickenson, whose team went 5-12-1 in 2024 in missing the playoffs for the first time in 20 years.
“Our organization’s in good shape,” he continued. “We have already, as an organization, looked to address anywhere where we can improve, and we feel like we’ve got an idea and a plan to do that …
“I’m comfortable with what we do and comfortable with our organization.”
That hasn’t keep the queries from coming, however, especially in the wake of players making it a point to criticize the Stampeders, with many going out of their way just to do so.
Included was former Stamps running back Ka’Deem Carey, who took his shots at Dickenson for the team’s recent failings immediately after finding championship success himself with the Toronto Argonauts.
“Y’all need to get the organization together,” Carey told 3Down Nation, in the moments after the 2024 Grey Cup victory in November. “And it starts with Dickie.”
It should be noted Carey — among others stopping to find fault with the Stamps — was moved away by Dickenson.
Making moves is just business, of course.
And to his credit, the veteran coach wasn’t taking the bait for a fight, even in the heat of those questions again Monday.
“Players that leave are not always the guys that are necessarily going to say a lot of positive things about how things go,” Dickenson said.
“I think the people that work in the league and the players that are in this league know what we stand for. I’m not worried about it to try to get into any sort of back and forth, because I know what we are.”
Internally, however, there’s also been suggestions of rift among the veterans and young players.
Veteran Stamps receiver Reggie Begelton was asked mid-season if there’s a ‘generational gap’ contributing to the team’s struggles in the dressing room.
“When I first came here, I wanted to play, but I understood that (you had) to earn that right to play,” Begelton told TSN. “Meaning that if I wanted to get on the field with special teams, I had to take pride in special teams, the proving ground. I truthfully don’t think the younger guys understand what that truly means.”
For Dickenson, that comment — and others like it — doesn’t equate to an issue with chemistry in the room.
“It wasn’t division,” said Dickenson on Monday. “It’s just when you lose, there’s going to be conflict.
“My opinion is there were obviously times when certainly disagreements happened. But you know what? When it’s not working in any aspect that’s important in your life, emotions are going to be there.
“I don’t think there’s division, though. I don’t.”
Defensive star Folarin Orimolade, who broke into the CFL with the Red and White before leaving via free agency two years ago, implied publicly during the off-season that the Stamps hadn’t been an organization that made the blockbuster move in the past.
That was before he was reacquired last Friday by the Stampeders — in what was a major move — that saw all-star linebacker Cameron Judge go the other way to the Argonauts.
“I did talk to Flo about that (comment),” Dickenson said. “He didn’t trash on the organization and say that we aren’t good people and that we’re not a winning club. He just said, in the past, we hadn’t had to make that splash.
“Flo’s looking forward to coming back. He wants to kind of be that guy and be the reason being we get back to those winning ways. I mean … he’s got great leadership. He is a great person. He works extremely hard. He’s a guy, I think, that has to be a central voice in our room.”
He’s a guy that has to help dispel the notion of a bad culture and any division within the Stampeders.
“In my opinion, it’s not cultural shifts, because the first thing we do is we treat people as humans and that we are very honest and fair,” reiterated Dickenson “And the culture is actually more than fine in Calgary.
“In fact, I think we have good culture.”
Dickenson knows, however, there’s always room for improvement.
“For the most part as an organization, we need to hear where we need to be better, and we’re trying to address it,” he added. “We’re in need of a little bit of a shot in the arm. We need some juice. We need some good things to happen for us.
“So let’s all look in the mirror, though, and be better ourselves.
“I want passionate people, though. If you don’t care, then I don’t want you around.”