Lots of new coaches. A few players in new uniforms. A new logo. A new stadium. The CFL for 2016.
Toronto has a new stadium in BMO Field: the team last played in that location in the 1988 CFL season at Exhibition Stadium. The Argos now have the longest serving coach in Scott Milanovich, but that speaks to a lot of turnover for the coaches.
Winnipeg is the only West team to retain its head coach. Chris Jones is in Saskatchewan with Jason Maas replacing Jones in Edmonton. John Hufnagel will be GM only in Calgary with Dave Dickenson now at the helm. Wally Buono added coach to his GM duties for the B.C. Lions.
Jim Popp is still the coach in Montréal; Alouettes fans are hoping for stability at quarterback this season. Kent Austin is fired up in Hamilton even if Zach Collaros isn't ready to start the season.
Ottawa has that "second year in the Grey Cup" elation but the East looks stronger this season and the RedBlacks lost their offensive coordinator in Maas.
Winnipeg had the best off-season in terms of players that casual fans recognize. Weston Dressler, Ryan Smith, Justin Medlock, and Andrew Harris now make Winnipeg their football home. Paul LaPolice is back as the offence coordinator, leaving TSN to return to the sidelines. Keeping quarterback Drew Willy upright is still a major hurdle.
Chris Getzlaf is wearing a different shade of green this year shifting to Edmonton but the Esks are minus Kenny Stafford, Shamawd Chambers, and Kendial Lawrence. Mike Reilly will still be a force in Edmonton. B.C. will likely see both Travis Lulay and Jonathan Jennings with prominent playing time.
Dave Dickenson won't have running back Jon Cornish (retirement) but Calgary has Jerome Messam, Bo Levi Mitchell, and perhaps the best backup QB in the league in Drew Tate. Receivers Eric Rogers and Jeff Fuller (NFL) are gone as is Juwan Simpson as well as defence coordinator Rich Stubler to Toronto.
Saskatchewan wants 2015 to disappear. A healthy Darian Durant and a new coach in Chris Jones will help things be bright in the last year of Taylor Field. The Roughriders have plenty of receivers but none of them named Weston Dressler and Ryan Smith.
Even with the Ottawa win in the East final, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats should be the team to beat. A good start, one minus Zach Collaros, will help. Jeremiah Masoli will start at first, but Jeff Mathews and Jacory Harris will have a say in the quarterback race. A new target for the quarterback is Chad Owens, who gave up the Double Blue to go slightly west.
Ricky Ray is 36 and hopes for a relatively normal season in the new digs at BMO Field. Ray doesn't have Trevor Harris as a backup nor Chad Owens as a target. The Argonauts have strong depth at receiver and a new defence coordinator in Rich Stubler.
The RedBlacks offence coordinator is gone from Ottawa but the offence is still there led by 40-year-old Henry Burris. Trevor Harris is more than ready if needed. Rick Campbell has pressure to show that the RedBlacks success wasn't due to collapses by other East teams last season.
The Montréal Alouettes could be forgiven if the team thinks it's had enough ironic frustration at the quarterback position after the long-time success of Anthony Calvillo. Jonathan Crompton, no longer Samson, started last year as the #1 QB but he is on the injured list. Dan LeFevour, the other quarterback injured in the opener, signed with Tampa Bay.
The Als first-round pick went to the B.C. Lions for quarterback phenom Vernon Adams, but that doesn't mean Adams will play right away. Kevin Glenn will start as the Montréal QB under Anthony Calvillo (offence coordinator/QB coach) and Glenn's former offence coordinator in Saskatchewan in Jacques Chapdelaine as receivers coach. The receivers are well-known S.J. Green, Nik Lewis, Sam Giguere, and returnees Kenny Stafford and Duron Carter.
Others in the QB mix include Rakeem Cato and Brandon Bridge. The Alouettes can't have as many quarterbacks in 2016 as the team had in 2015.
Watching the 2016 CFL season on ESPN
CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage
The CFL will have drug testing again. The initial positive is a 2-game suspension followed by 9 games (second positive), 1 year (third, and a lifetime ban (fourth offence).
We have more reviewable plays this season and an additional video official in the Command Centre in Toronto.
A team that gives up a field goal after the 3-minute warning of the game will have to receive a kickoff; choosing to scrimmage the ball is not an option. The issue of a player giving an opponent’s offensive ball to a fan after a turnover is no longer an issue as this won't be a penalty; this came up way too often last season.
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The CFL is as stable as the league has been in a long time. So the hunt for a 10th franchise should be easier.
The league would love to put a team in Halifax, but Halifax is dragging its feet on a stadium. The proposed area in Dartmouth would be good for fans coming from the east, and the idea of ferries across for fans on the Halifax side would be a nice visual.
The proposed 20,000 seating capacity feels frighteningly low, even with the smaller capacities in vogue for the East teams.
Analysis: Could Moncton host a permanent CFL franchise?
Celebrating advantages of the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market
The potential Atlantic Schooners would bring needed attention to Halifax and the Maritimes. The area is beautiful but invisible to a lot of Canadians. With ESPN, Halifax could get noticed by more Americans.
We broke down an analysis after attending the Touchdown Atlantic in Moncton, New Brunswick in 2013. Moncton has half a good stadium, but a few upgrades could make the stadium CFL worthy until a stadium was built in Halifax. The NFL analogy would be the Houston Oilers going to Memphis until a stadium was built in Nashville. The Schooners need regional support to survive.
My time in Halifax last summer was a treat. A stroll through the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market followed by a CFL game at night and a walk on the boardwalk as a nightcap would make for a great day.
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logo credit: CFL
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