MONTREAL — Danny Maciocia was flying home the day after his Montreal Alouettes won the Grey Cup when he leaned over to head coach Jason Maas and said: “Now what do we do?”
“I know we won a Grey Cup, but what are our next steps?” the Alouettes general manager thought at the time.
The organization’s two central figures got off the plane from Hamilton — where the Alouettes upset the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 28-24 on Nov. 19 in a dramatic championship victory — and instantly drove to a restaurant in Montreal’s east end to chart out a plan for the off-season.
Early into their three-hour discussion, it became abundantly clear that keeping the team together and having continuity into next season were priorities.
“We fell on a recipe that worked for us, and I wanted to keep that recipe,” Maciocia said Friday in the Alouettes’ locker room. “That's the reason we got to work, because we wanted to keep our key players and that core intact.”
A little over a year ago, the Alouettes didn’t even know who their owner would be — or whether the team would play the 2023 season. Several key players packed their bags for other CFL cities in free agency.
Instability plagued the franchise in the years preceding last season’s triumph, with the CFL taking over operations twice in four years.
Now businessman Pierre Karl Peladeau has owned the team for a full calendar year, and the Alouettes seem as stable as ever with most of a championship team returning to attempt a repeat.
In the weeks that followed Montreal’s championship parade Nov. 22, Maciocia signed defensive linemen Shawn Lemon and Mustafa Johnson, linebacker Darnell Sankey, quarterback Cody Fajardo and Canadian receiver Tyson Philpot to contract extensions, among several other moves. Maciocia and Maas also signed long-term extensions of their own.
"It's about as much of 180 as you can get,” said Maas, who was hired as head coach before last season. “Totally different feel this year.”
"Stability is a great thing, I believe, in sports. Continuity after winning a championship is huge,” he added. “Having an owner for an entire calendar year, a president, a GM, everybody that's worked together and had success together now. That to me is the biggest thing and it's the way it should be, to be honest, that's what you hope it to be.”
Not only are many of key players returning. Montreal also brought back most of its coaching staff — including offensive co-ordinator/quarterback coach Anthony Calvillo, defensive co-ordinator Noel Thorpe and special-teams co-ordinator Byron Archambault — somewhat of a rarity in a league where coaches often get poached after successful seasons.
Calvillo won three Grey Cups as the Alouettes quarterback, and led the team to back-to-back titles in 2009-2010. He gave Maas credit for building a championship culture last year, and said consistency within the team is crucial to keeping that going.
“All the teams I've been on when we had success is when we had stability and continuity with the players and coaching staff,” Calvillo said. “You're able to have a lot of success with that.
"So I'm glad we're going in that trend, and we're looking forward to it."
Maciocia, a Montreal native, said the Als are still hungry for more even though he added winning a Grey Cup for his home-town brought a certain “closure” to Maciocia's distinguished football career.
"It was special, it was unique, it's something we're going to cherish for the rest of our days that championship, but we're not satisfied,” Maciocia said. “There's still a lot to be done and we're looking forward to doing it together."
OFF-SEASON CHANGES
Maciocia may have done a lot of work to keep the Alouettes’ championship team intact, but inevitably there were changes.
Standout wide receiver Austin Mack signed with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, while defensive end Lwal Uguak agreed to a contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Longtime running back William Stanback was released and ultimately signed with the B.C. Lions.
Maciocia added receiver Tevin Jones, defensive tackle Derek Wiggan and running back Sean Thomas-Erlington, among others, to the roster.
Montreal’s offensive line didn’t change much despite the Alouettes allowing 61 sacks last season, second-most in the CFL. Maciocia argued those problems were a bigger issue earlier in the season, noting the Alouettes allowed two sacks in the Grey Cup.
"The experience of going through that and the fact we're keeping this stability and continuity in place — the same offensive system, the same quarterback — I think we'll be a lot better than we were last year,” Maciocia said. “I don't think we'll have problems protecting our quarterback.”
CFL teams will open training camp May 12.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2024.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
