Stampeders start prep for a season they hope ends with hoisting Grey Cup in Calgary

Calgary Stampeders quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. throws the ball during opening day of training camp in Calgary, Sunday, May 10, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY — A Grey Cup game in their city is on the horizon. The Calgary Stampeders plan to keep their heads down and do the work to play in it.

“I get it right now, we’re going to talk about the Grey Cup,” head coach/general manager Dave Dickenson said Sunday on the first day of main camp at McMahon Stadium.

“I know Nov. 15, I want to be coming out of that locker room with the guys. In order to look forward, you’ve got to kinda look where we’re at. For us, let’s make sure we handle today.”

It’s been a CFL minute since a team won a Grey Cup in its home stadium.

The 2013 Saskatchewan Roughriders were the last to do so in Regina, which capped a run of three straight years after the Toronto Argonauts (2012) in Toronto and the B.C. Lions (2011) in Vancouver.

Receiver Dejon Brissett, who signed with the Stampeders in the off-season after winning two Grey Cups with the Argos (2024, 2022), says commitment to and execution of day-to-day chores will be the key to hoisting the trophy.

“I’ve been on two teams that got there and won it so it’s a process right?” said the 29-year-old from Mississauga, Ont.

“So just kind of reinforcing that with the guys, not getting too focused on the end goal, but every single step along the way. Teams that start strong and finish stronger, those are the teams that usually win.”

Brissett amassed 907 receiving yards for the Argos last year.

Calgary hosts the defending Grey Cup-champion Saskatchewan Roughriders in a pre-season game May 18. Calgary’s regular season starts June 5 at home to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Turning it around in 2025

An 11-7 record to rank third in the West Division in 2025 was a significant turnaround from finishing dead last in the league the previous year. The Stampeders narrowly fell 33-30 to the B.C. Lions in last season’s division semifinal.

Quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., revived Calgary’s offence in his first season as a Stampeder, and was rewarded with a contraction extension on the eve of training camp through to 2028.

“We started a winning foundation again, what this city is used to,” Adams said. “We want to uphold the standard, but we want to raise it even higher. It’s a huge opportunity this year for us and we know what’s at stake.”

As is his custom, the quarterback ran another spring camp with his receivers in April.

While the majority of that group in California was familiar to him, there were changes with the retirement of Dominique Rhymes and departure of Damien Alford to the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.

The CFL’s leading rusher last season with 1,409 yards felt fit in body and mind to start training camp.

“Coming into camp, weighed in at 225 on the dot,” said Dedrick Mills, who also signed a two-year contract extension in the off-season.

“Usually I’m coming in at 230, 240, 238, 240. It’s probably the best I’ve ever felt body-wise, weight-wise. Mentally, just got married, so feeling very good.”

Receiver Reggie Begelton and defensive lineman Folarin Orimolade were veterans not in pads Sunday.

Begelton, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 2 of 2025, was an on-field observer wearing workout clothes.

Orimolade, who tore his Achilles tendon in September’s Labour Day game, jumped rope on the sidelines with his left ankle in a brace.

“They haven’t had their physicals yet,” Dickenson said. “Both are progressing well, but certain days they’re having some problems.

“We would like them back for Week 1, both.”

Defensive back Bailey Devine-Scott started camp on the six-day injured list.

The retirement of P.J. Walker has opened the door for Josh Love to move up the depth chart and back up Adams.

The departure of defensive lineman Jaylon Hutchings and linebacker Jacob Roberts to the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings creates competition for starting jobs on defence. Hutchings was released by the Vikings last month but has yet to sign with another team.

“We accomplished some positives last year,” Dickenson said. “I’m not one of these guys that you have to win the Grey Cup to consider it a successful season, but it really is levels of success.

“I’ve heard in hockey, talk (that) if you don’t win it, you don’t make the playoffs, what’s the difference? For us, there’s levels of success. We want to make sure we’re playing our best football.

“We’ve like to get a (playoff) bye and like to give ourselves the best chance, but as far as expectations, we’ve got to be careful on that. Let’s just get better and make sure this week’s important to us and get better on a daily basis.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2026.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press