{"id":405618,"date":"2026-01-13T01:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T01:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/405618\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T01:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T01:12:12","slug":"weve-done-our-research-cfl-gms-head-coaches-prepared-to-push-back-on-leagues-rule-change-narrative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/405618\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We’ve done our research’: CFL GMs, head coaches prepared to push back on league’s rule change narrative"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym\/RFB Sport Photography<\/p>\n

When the CFL announced significant rule changes in September, the league\u2019s head coaches and general managers were not consulted. Now, they are getting their say at the offseason winter meetings in Calgary, and it appears some have brought receipts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done our research. I can tell you we\u2019ve done our research in detail,\u201d Montreal Alouettes\u2019 general manager Danny Maciocia told 3DownNation ahead of the first rules committee meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve taken the required time to make sure that whatever arguments I\u2019m going to present, I\u2019m going to present them with some data. I can tell you that I will be ready for these discussions, but at the same time, I\u2019m curious to see other general managers and other head coaches\u2019 (opinions). I\u2019m sure they\u2019ve done some research along the way, and I want to see what they\u2019re going to present. I want there to be some common ground with this, and I\u2019m all about making this league better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maciocia declined to share the nature of his presentation on Monday, stating only that he hopes people will hear about it in the next few days. He wasn\u2019t the only one playing things close to the vest, as Winnipeg Blue Bombers\u2019 head coach Mike O\u2019Shea elected to keep his opinions private after previously expressing concern about the proposed changes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the raw emotion is gone. It might be sparked again here momentarily \u2026 when we start our meetings,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m certainly in the mindset to listen, and if I believe I have something valuable to add, just like any other year, I\u2019ll try and add it.\u201d<\/p>\n

CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston made a splash in his first year on the job, garnering unanimous approval from the league\u2019s board of governors to impose several substantial alterations to the Canadian game<\/a> without input from other stakeholders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Beginning in 2026, the rouge will be modified to eliminate points for missed field goals, and the play clock will be changed to 35 seconds of running time. In 2027, goal posts will be moved to the back of the end zone, the end zone will be shortened to 15 yards, and the field itself will shrink to 100 yards, eliminating the iconic 55-yard line.<\/p>\n

The league opted not to run these changes through the rules committee prior to their announcement, believing that such substantial proposals would become bogged down in debate. Johnston believed aggressive action was justified, with the league\u2019s data suggesting that these changes could result in 10 percent more end zone completions and 60 more touchdowns per season.<\/p>\n

Those numbers have been met with skepticism by some on the rules committee, including Calgary Stampeders\u2019 head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey talk about 60 touchdowns. Where are they getting that from? I have no idea. I don\u2019t think you can actually predict that, to be honest,\u201d he remarked to 3DownNation. \u201cBut at least I\u2019m going to listen. I\u2019m going to do more listening than talking, which is hard for me. I\u2019m definitely going to listen and see what they present and where these thoughts came from. I\u2019m in the business of making this league better, I am, so I\u2019m going to try to do my best to make it better, and we\u2019ll see how many stick and how many don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CFL has made their agenda for the winter meetings public<\/a> for the first time, with the rules committee slated to address the \u201ccascading tactical rules required to implement structural changes announced in September.\u201d This is expected to focus primarily on the effect of the new play clock on the final three minutes.<\/p>\n

It remains unclear if the structural changes themselves could be reversed. While Toronto Argonauts\u2019 general manager Pinball Clemons told the media that he believes everything is on the table, O\u2019Shea appeared more resigned to his fate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as I am concerned, I wouldn\u2019t be on any voting panel for a major change. I think that\u2019s the governors. The governors have already approved these, and my understanding is we have to sort of work out how to implement them right now,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Even if the league holds firm in the face of criticism<\/a> and elects to proceed with its new vision for the game, that won\u2019t stop Canadian football lifers<\/a> like Maciocia and O\u2019Shea from speaking up amongst their peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel an obligation to the CFL and to the future of the CFL. There will be decisions; I don\u2019t know that they\u2019ll be based on how I feel,\u201d O\u2019Shea said. \u201cI hope they won\u2019t be decisions made on emotion. I think it\u2019s whether or not the quality of the game and the integrity of the game will continue at a high level. I think that\u2019s how we should be making our decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want this Canadian game to take the next step, and I don\u2019t know what the next step is. It\u2019s going to be interesting here to hear some of the arguments,\u201d Maciocia said, stressing that his research won\u2019t stop him from being open-minded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always intrigued to know what other people think around the table, and that may affect the way I see things. Maybe I\u2019ve overlooked some things along the way when the announcement was made, and we were contemplating going in a particular direction with this new resolution. I\u2019m intrigued to know what everybody else thinks about it, but at the end of the day, I want what\u2019s best for the CFL and for the Canadian game, because I think you know everybody can reap the benefits from it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym\/RFB Sport Photography When the CFL announced significant rule changes in September, the league\u2019s head…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[166835,166836,49,48,7028,521,522,520,118182,527,2002,170990,994,41816,170991,82,139627],"class_list":["post-405618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-danny-maciocia","tag-football","tag-league","tag-mike-oshea","tag-research","tag-rule-changes","tag-rules-committee","tag-sports","tag-winter-meetings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}