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Details leaked from the Calgary Stampeders during the 2024 CFL season.

That was the consensus sentiment among the Stampeders selected to do exit interviews with the media on Sunday.

So there will be a lot of attention to detail on the roster — on all fronts, including both players and coaching staff — this coming offseason.

Change is indeed coming.

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“Yeah … I definitely think as an organization you do what’s best to win — and we didn’t do that,” Stampeders general manager/head coach Dave Dickenson said. “So we are prepared and ready to improve. And there are a few areas that we definitely targeted.

“We’re going to have to make some repairs. I’m confident we can do it.”

That could start with Dickenson himself, depending on conversations he’s had with chairman Jay McNeil and special counsel John Hufnagel.

Whether the CFL veteran returns is the first item on the agenda.

And if so, does he return to the dual role of general manager and head coach he’s held for the past two years?

The wily QB says he’s ready to work on the future of the red and white.

“I have a plan,” Dickenson, 51, said. “I expect it to work and just have to see how it goes as we go forward. Like I’m confident I have an idea of ​​where this team hasn’t been. And for me, I think there are some things we need to do better as an organization.

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“I’ll probably have more answers here in a few days.”

Good, because there weren’t enough answers during the 5-12-1 crisis of 2024.

Only more and more questions as the losses — including eight in the last 10 games — mounted.

The faces of each unit — offensive captain Reggie Begelton, defensive standout Cam Judge and kicking legend René Paredes — feel like they know what went wrong.

“This year has been a testament to the detail and the professionalism — just everyone looking at themselves and wondering how much they love this game,” Begelton said. “And that’s about putting in the extra work and not wanting to let your colleagues down. So you do the right thing every time – just being the best version of you. If you strive to be the best version of yourself, then I promise you that many good things will happen.

“We have a lot of young people who haven’t had that guidance,” Begelton continued. “Ignorance is bliss and comes with experience and hopefully, you know, a lot of them are a year behind now. So it’s one of those things where you say, ‘Do you want to go to the next level – do you really want to win? Or are you here for a check? So it’s a character-building type of year and we’ll see who has worked in an offseason in the spring.”

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This is the one who actually pays attention to – and respects – the details of their football duties.

“It was the details,” agreed Judge, the all-star linebacker. “I think sometimes we got away from the details, especially in the big moments of the game when you want to be on top of them. Sometimes maybe even guys try to do too much that makes a good game.

“So I feel like it wasn’t just a lot of glaring issues,” Judge continued. “I felt, honestly, no matter what happened, all the little things added up. Maybe you add them together, this is a glaring problem. So we definitely need to pay more attention to the details, game by game.

“We’d play a good game, and then the last half of the fourth quarter — maybe the whole fourth quarter — it’s like we don’t know how to play football. So it’s tough because you know we can do it and we did it on the same night.”

After such a sloppy season, no one is exempt from the offseason business at hand.

The process began on Sunday with exit interviews, medical checks and document clearance. Then, after a team party Monday, every player and coach goes home knowing — if they return — the 2025 Stampeders will be a different-looking group come spring.

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It must be after the year it wasn’t.

“We’re going to start with our individual meetings,” Dickenson said. “We’ll see how it fits. But…yeah…everyone needs to be better.

“I expect there to be a change in the team and the way we do things,” the general manager/head coach continued. “I mean… you have to have your options first. You know…CFL free agency doesn’t even start until mid-February. So you can make all these plans to do this and do that, but you may not be able to do them. You are at the mercy of what is available. But we’re going to start and look at everything from personnel to scouting to communication to coaching to position meetings to strength and conditioning and training.

“We have to catch our breath, and then you look at it and try to find the right balance.”

And hopefully come back with a better feel for 2025 to move the Stampeders back toward their high standard of the last 20 CFL seasons.

“As a player who’s been here a long, long time and loves the city and loves this organisation, I’ve been on the decline for the last five years – I’ll be honest,” added the Parades super-kicker, who confirmed he will return to the team — at age 40 — in 2025. “You know … we haven’t won a playoff game since 2018. You know … we haven’t had a playoff home game since ’18. And last year we barely made the playoffs. And this year, I didn’t. So it’s hard for me to say, but we’ve been in decline as an organization.

“Things have to change.”

[email protected]

X: @ToddSaelhofPM

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