ABOVE: Hear coaches Austin and Hufnagel talk about their shared history
VANCOUVER – Kent Austin and John Hufnagel have plenty in common. They are both former Grey Cup-winning quarterbacks, who spent time coaching in the U.S. before returning to Canada to embark on successful careers as head coaches and general managers. Both have racked up tremendous regular season records, but are trying to erase the memory of recent Grey Cup losses.
Austin has made it to the Grey Cup every season he’s coached in the CFL, most recently losing to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in last year’s championship. Hufnagel, meanwhile, has amassed an amazing 88-37-1 record for a .702 winning percentage with the Stampeders, with one Grey Cup win to show for it.
“We have a pretty good regular season record, and we’re batting one game over .500 in the playoffs,” said Hufnagel at a press conference in Vancouver Wednesday. “I’m not so sure there’s a whole lot of teams over the last seven years that can say that. We’ve lost big games. We’ve won big games. We’ve got a big game coming up on Sunday and we’re going to try very hard to win it.”
Read more: Stampeders, Tiger-Cats confident heading into 2014 Grey Cup
Austin and Hufnagel are also widely considered to be the best football minds in the league, managing almost every aspect of their team. They also have a shared history. Hufnagel was Austin’s first coach when he broke into the league with the Saskatchewan Roughriders back in the late ’80s.
“Huf was my first coach up here,” says Austin, who won a Grey Cup with the Riders in 1989 under coach John Gregory. “I’ve got a lot of respect for John. He’s really a great coach.”
Austin credits Hufnagel for helping him adjust to the Canadian game.
“It was totally a different game than what I was used to,” he says. “Having somebody like John to kind of cut the corners, to give you the shortcuts you needed to at least have a chance to be successful early….was a huge benefit.”
Both Hufangel and Austin have had to teach those shortcuts to this year’s Grey Cup quarterbacks.
Calgary’s Bo Levi Mitchell and Hamilton’s Zach Collaros will be playing in just their second post-season game when they square off in Sunday’s big game.
Mitchell was solid in his first season as starter, completing over 63 per cent of his passes for 3,389 yards with 22 TDs and just eight interceptions. And in last Sunday’s win in the West Division final, Mitchell threw four touchdown passes against Edmonton.
“The game’s not too big for Bo,” says Hufnagel. “That’s the easiest way to say it. He’s manages it, he makes plays, he’ss make mistakes like anybody, but he’ll come back and manage the game.”
Austin had high praise for his quarterback Zach Collaros, saying his teammates “don’t ever question whether he’ll come to play.”
The press conference ended with both coaches being asked about what they tell their players about having sex prior to the big game.
The question is something of a tradition as veteran Toronto sportswriter Jim Hunt asked it to Grey Cup coaches for decades. Since Hunt’s passing, other reporters have continued Hunt’s cheeky line of questioning and Hufnagel, at least, was ready with an answer.
“The recurring theme or words that have come out of my players mouths from the start of training camp is to finish,” said Hufnagel. “I would hope they would have that same directive this week.”
-with files from Canadian Press
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