Why have Calgary Stampeders been so solid on defence to start 2025 CFL season?
Unit flush with 'right people, for whatever reason' in a magical start to the 2025 CFL season.
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It seems silly to mention mystical mantras such as ‘Hocus Pocus’ or ‘Abracadabra’ to reason away the sudden coming together of the Calgary Stampeders’ defence.
‘Magic?’
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Why have Calgary Stampeders been so solid on defence to start 2025 CFL season? Back to video
That’s hardly a word thrown around in football circles, where talent, hard work, repetition and long hours are tools of the trade.
“No …” voted Stampeders defensive coordinator Bob Slowik, slowing shaking his head to underscore the laughable idea of sorcery being behind the success of his staunch charges so far in the 2025 Canadian Football League season.
“I don’t think there’s anybody that’s ever going to tell you they go on the field thinking and just go walk out there and things gonna happen magically.”
It’s an answer to be expected from a longtime student of the game.
But then how does anyone explain the quick gelling of Slowik’s defence, an all-new unit with 12 fresh starters in place compared to last fall?
And … yes … the ‘D’ has certainly found chemistry in the blink of an eye of newt, fast becoming the best of the CFL with the Stampeders (5-1) next hosting the Montreal Alouettes (4-2) on Thursday at McMahon Stadium (7 p.m., TSN, CHQR 770 AM/107.3 FM the Edge).
Success, as it has come for the Stamps, just doesn’t happen this quickly for the defence.
“No … and who knows why?” admitted Slowik. “It’s a little bit surprising because of the fact that there’s so many new players to the defence. The thing most surprising is the fact that the chemistry within the unit itself is making for one of the best chemistries I’ve ever been around. That’s what led to them gelling and being able to play together so quickly.”
And play together oh-so magically.
Indeed, the Red and White defence has allowed just 111 points on the season. That’s a scant average of 18.5 over the six games of the schedule, of which four came against arguably the top offensive teams in the CFL.
Stingy stuff.
Nobody comes close to rivalling that season-long stat, with the next-toughest defence belonging to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers — you’ll recall the Stampeders stomped them twice in three weeks — which has allowed 135 points against.
To boot, compare the per-game points allowed by last year’s Stampeders defence, which surrendered nearly 30 a contest.
What a turnaround.
“Credit to our players, first and foremost,” said Stampeders GM/head coach Dave Dickenson. “I mean … they’re playing hard, they’re tackling well, they’re making plays.
“And let’s give some love to our staff — the entire defensive staff is really doing a good job.”
Slowik is quick to shrug off that credit, pointing to Dickenson himself and the Stamps’ personnel department for bringing in the right players during the massive off-season overhaul of the roster.
“They got the right people in here that have a passion for the game and are not just coming in because someone pays them,” Slowik said. “They would always ask me for input on people, and I’d like to say that I contributed a great deal.
“But … no … they did a helluva job in the front office with personnel getting these guys here.”
A few of those right guys were leaders — quintessential ones, as it turns out.
Slowik confirms the presence of linebacker Marquel Lee and defensive backs Damon Webb and Derrick Moncrief have brought monster charisma to his defence.
“Absolutely,” praised Slowik. “Even Marquel, with being injured (due to a serious bicep issue), he’s still a major part of the leadership here. You can hear him, and you can see him daily, whether it be in meetings or out here in the practice. And Moncrief and, of course, Webb, they’re just pros that people have a tendency to follow.
“I don’t know it’s as much style as what they do on the field,” continued Slowik. “They just come out here and work. You can tell they’re enthusiastic — they like to play, and they’re always working. So anybody looks at them, they’re going to be pretty good as far as their work ethic, preparation and enthusiasm and passion for the game.”
While Lee and Moncrief, who’s snuck up from the secondary to solidly play the strong-side linebacker spot, have anchored the front seven, it’s safety Webb who’s spearheading the defensive backs and their enormous rise.
“The defensive back group has just been phenomenal attacking the ball and the way they show their toughness on the perimeter,” Slowik said. “And obviously, they’re all new.
“It’s just been one of those things that takes the most time to all work together and get coordinated. (Defensive backs coach) Barron Miles has done a fabulous job of getting them ready.”
The coaches and the players — to a man — have done a fabulous job, period, in what amounts to a simple but effective scheme defensively.
Just the way it should be to keep an offence in front of you.
“You know … the players after we play are saying, ‘We’re not very complex. We’re just doing our job,’” Dickenson said. “And that’s a sign of good defence when it’s ‘Just doing our job.’”
Of course, that’s — ideally — the goal of every defence out there.
But there is plenty to be said about keeping it simple in football. If Slowik’s defence is just that, it makes it easier for the talent to come together quickly.
And these guys have come together quickly.
“The chemistry with how that happens, I don’t think a coach can make it happen or anybody can,” Slowik said. “It just seems like the right people, for whatever reason, have got together at this point in time.
“And thank the universe.”
Magic then?
Who said there’s none of it in football?
“That’s it,” added Slowik, with a hearty chuckle. “Correct.
“We’ve done well in certain areas, but we’ve got a long way to go. We’ve got to continue to make improvements.”
SHORT YARDAGE
The Stampeders are slated to go with the same starting lineup as what they fielded for last week’s 41-20 blowout of the host Blue Bombers … But there are roster changes underneath, with RB Jeshrun Antwi (ankle) and DB Ben Labrosse (hamstring) both returning from injury and RB William Langlais and LB Morice Blackwell Jr. also shifting into the lineup … Those Stamps coming out are RB Ludovick Choquette, OL Tomas Jack-Kurdyla, LB Kelechi Anyalebechi (foot) and DB Jackson Sombach (hamstring).
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