It feels like the Toronto Argonauts are hitting a reset button.<\/p>\n
After a run of four years with two Grey Cup titles and four consecutive trips to the Eastern Final, 2025 was a step back. The Argos missed the playoffs at 5-13 and struggled with injuries for much of the season, which has led to a fascinating off-season so far.<\/p>\n
Head coach Ryan Dinwiddie left for an expanded role in Ottawa, while Toronto has added significantly in their football operations department. An important constant, however, is general manager Michael \u201cPinball\u201d Clemons, who continues to guide the ship.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe say reset, not regret,\u201d Clemons told CFL.ca at the 2026 Winter Meetings in Calgary earlier this month. \u201cSo, we\u2019re glad it happened. We had a very successful stint there, but now with the reset, we think we get a chance to recharge ourselves again.\u201d<\/p>\n
RELATED \u00a0<\/p>\n Part of that recharging process started with the hiring of Mike Miller as Dinwiddie\u2019s successor at head coach<\/a>. After almost three decades climbing the ranks in the CFL, NFL, NFL Europe, NCAA, and XFL, Miller has earned his first opportunity at the top job.<\/p>\n And after undertaking a thorough search, Clemons feels confident they have the right guy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe process was interesting,\u201d Pinball admitted. \u201cWe started, of course, with (Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach) Mike O\u2019Shea and he was the guy we were looking for.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we found (in Miller) were a lot of qualities that (O\u2019Shea) has. In terms of his character, work ethic, discipline, all of those things. And I don\u2019t think it\u2019s something we necessarily thought about through the process. But in retrospect\u2026he gives us a lot of the things that (O\u2019Shea) does. We\u2019re really excited about what he has the potential to bring to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n Serving as quarterbacks coach the last four seasons, Miller has a strong relationship with Chad Kelly<\/a> and Nick Arbuckle<\/a>, both of whom will be back in Toronto this season. Clemons also revealed other Argos players vouched for Miller during the hiring process, which adds to the optimism surrounding his promotion.<\/p>\n But with this being Miller\u2019s first head coaching post, Clemons wanted to make sure there was added support. And those reinforcements came in the form of John Hufnagel (special advisor to the general manager and head coach<\/a>) and Jim Barker (director of player personnel<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The hiring of Hufnagel was especially notable after an incredible 17-year run with Calgary on the sidelines and in the front office.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s forgotten more offence than I know,\u201d Clemons said. \u201cBecause Mike hasn\u2019t called plays just yet, (so this) gives him that support and that background, right?<\/p>\n \u201cTo do some of the things that require time and energy. Like advanced scouting, scouting the team we\u2019re going to play the following week. He\u2019s there to provide that knowledge, that background, that support. He\u2019s helping with the preparation work, even talking to the defence about the upcoming offence. We\u2019re just infinitely excited about his presence.\u201d<\/p>\n With a new coach and a revamped football ops crew, there\u2019s no question the Argonauts have flipped a page. While it\u2019s not a complete factory restore, Toronto is leaning into 2026 as a reset year. And punctuated with a loud \u201cwoooo\u201d at the end of our conversation, it\u2019s clear Clemons is excited about the challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s awesome,\u201d said Clemons. \u201cWe just continue to really enjoy the opportunity we\u2019ve been given, and I guess it\u2019s kind of where I was supposed to be. It\u2019s been a great honour that I don\u2019t take lightly. We embrace the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It feels like the Toronto Argonauts are hitting a reset button. After a run of four years with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-430692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430692","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=430692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u00bb\u00a0CFL.ca\u2019s top 30 pending free agents<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0MMQB: 5 key pending free agent extensions<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0More 2026 Free Agency news and analysis<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a03 bold free agency predictions<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a03 pending free agents that could break out in 2026<\/a>
\u00bb\u00a0Subscribe to the CFL\u2019s newsletter for exclusive offers and league updates<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n