John Hufnagel is honoured with the Hugh Campbell Distinguished Leadership Award at the CFL Awards during the CFL’s Grey Cup week in Calgary, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
The Toronto Argonauts announced Thursday that five-time Grey Cup winner John Hufnagel is joining the team as a special adviser to the general manager and head coach.
Known for his success with the Calgary Stampeders, Hufnagel has added two CFL coach of the year titles and a Super Bowl ring over 50 years as a player and coach.
He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2020.
“A legend is entering the building,” Argonauts general manager Mike (Pinball) Clemons said in a release. “John Hufnagel is one of the most respected and revered people in our game today and defines the meaning of ’Hall of Famer,’ as one of the few who can call himself both a Grey Cup and Super Bowl champion.”
Hufnagel’s most significant run of success came in his third stint with the Stampeders, which started when he took over as head coach and GM in 2008.
The team won the Grey Cup that season, and Hufnagel, a rookie CFL head coach, won his first Annis Stukus Trophy as coach of the year.
Calgary won another CFL title in 2014 with Hufnagel winning his second coach of the year award.
“It’s bittersweet to be parting ways with the Calgary Stampeders but at the same time I’m excited by the new opportunity that lies ahead,” Hufnagel said in a statement. “I’m very proud of what we accomplished in Calgary since my return to the organization in 2008, and I sincerely thank everyone who helped make that happen.
“I also thank Stampeders fans for always making me feel welcome and for their friendship over the years.”
Calgary Stampeders head coach John Hufnagel, right, gets some help from a fan to carry the Grey Cup off the team bus after the team returned home to a hero’s welcome in Calgary Monday, Nov. 24, 2008. The Stampeders defeated the Montreal Alouettes 22-14 to win the Grey Cup.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Hufnagel ceded coaching duties to former Stampeders quarterback Dave Dickenson after the 2015 season, but remained general manager until 2022. The Stampeders played in three straight Grey Cups from 2016-18, winning in the final year of that span.
Dickenson took over GM duties after the 2022 season, but Hufnagel remained as an adviser. He also served as club president from 2016-2023.
“The Calgary Stampeders organization – and that very much includes myself – has been very fortunate to benefit from Huff’s wisdom and leadership,” Dickenson said in a statement. “I was hoping he would remain with the club, but I respect his decision to pursue a new challenge and we wish him the best of luck.”
Hufnagel joins a Toronto team with a long-tenured GM in Clemons, but a rookie head coach in Mike Miller.
Miller was named the Argos new head coach on Tuesday after Ryan Dinwiddie left the role in November to take over as head coach and GM of the Ottawa Redblacks.
“A leader and a winner, John will mentor both the head coach and general manager in his role as senior adviser, representing the team in league meetings, preparing for the combine, draft, pre-game preparations, post-game analysis and any additional needs that a football season might require,” Clemons said. “We will all benefit from John’s wealth of experience, wisdom and championship mentality.”
Hufnagel was drafted as a quarterback by the Denver Broncos in 1973 out of Penn State and spent three years in Colorado.
He would go on to play 12 years in the CFL with Calgary, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg, helping the Blue Bombers win a Grey Cup in 1984.
His coaching career began in 1987 with Saskatchewan as a player-coach, looking after the quarterbacks and receivers.
He returned to Calgary in 1990 as offensive co-ordinator and assistant head coach, helping the Stampeders win the Grey Cup in 1992, before his first head coaching position with the New Jersey Red Dogs of the Arena Football League in 1997.
Hufnagel would go on to coach quarterbacks in the NFL for the next five seasons in Cleveland, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, and New England. He coached Hall of Famers Peyton Manning and Tom Brady during that stretch, winning a Super Bowl with the Patriots in 2003.
He spent two seasons as the New York Giants’ offensive co-ordinator before returning to Calgary for his third and most successful run with the Stamps.