When training camp hits McMahon Stadium on May 28, there will be twice as many quarterbacks on the field including a Hall of Famer and multiple Grey Cup Champions.

But don’t expect any quarterbacking controversies this year as Bo Levi Mitchell will still be under centre come opening day in spite of the credentials carried by the other QBs on the premises.

That’s because four of the eight quarterbacks are now in the next phase of their careers, serving as a coach or administrator for a franchise that has the best overall record of any CFL franchise since 2008 and is consistently near at or near the top of the league offensively.

John Hufnagel, Dave Dickenson, Marc Mueller and newcomer Ryan Dinwiddie all contribute to what is a rare offensive braintrust in Calgary and it’s a situation that has the Stamps’ current gunslinger excited for what is to come.

“I’m a lucky person, honestly,” says Mitchell when asked his thoughts on having four former quarterbacks in the fold. “It’s so reassuring. It’s so many great minds to bounce plays off of, bounce film off of, to find solutions on how to beat certain defences.”

Great minds is not a hyperbole when you look at the resumes of the four former QBs.

John Hufnagel played quarterback for the Stamps in the late 1970’s.

This year, Hufnagel goes from the sidelines to the front office, focusing on his general manager duties and giving the coaching reigns to Dickenson.

Prior to his coaching and managing, Hufnagel spent three years in the NFL with the Denver Broncos and 12 in the CFL at the quarterback with three franchises including the Stampeders, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

In 162 CFL games, Hufnagel threw for 21,594 yards and 127 touchdowns, winning the Grey Cup in 1984 with the Blue bombers.

As a coach, his 102 coaching wins and two Grey Cups for the Red and White leave him second all-time on the Stamps record book behind only Wally Buono.

Dickenson, his successor on the sidelines, had a stellar college career with the University of Montana, capturing an NCAA Div. 1-AA national title and three conference MVPs. He led the nation in passing in 1995. That led into a Hall-of-Fame CFL career in which he collected three Grey Cups with the Stampeders and BC Lions, along with a 2006 MVP Grey Cup award and the Most Outstanding Player award in 2000, all while setting a number of league passing records.

“When you have guys that have done it at a high level,” says Mitchell, “and have done it behind the facemask, guys that have been behind that line and seen the plays and when they see something on film, they know what you’re going through as opposed to a coach that may have learned it through a playbook.

“That’s the biggest thing for me. It’s so much easier for me to talk to Dinwiddie and trust what he says when I know he’s been right there where I am, in those same shoes.”

Ryan Dinwiddie quarterbacking the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2008.

Dinwiddie certainly has been there and seen it all.

A standout at Boise State University where he won 2003 WAC Offensive Player of the Year, Dinwiddie eventually made his way to the CFL where he was thrown to the fire, having to replace Kevin Glenn as the starter for the 2007 Grey Cup against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

If anyone understands pressure at the pivot position, it would be Dinwiddie.

According to freshly minted head coach Dickenson, that kind of experience in live game action can go a long way in a player trusting the advice his coach gives him.

“It’s hard to over-coach something and say ‘You haven’t even been behind centre, how do you know?’ ” says Dickenson.

Mitchell is looking forward to working with Dinwiddie, who coached or played with some of the best in the game including Anthony Calvillo, Kevin Glenn and Darian Durant.

“Already, we’ve been together for two months now going through film and watching and re-watching all the games from last year and talking about all the reads and talking over things that I can do better and you can see the knowledge just ooze out of him right away,” says Mitchell.

Aside from the veteran quarterbacks, even young players trying to crack a deep Stampeders roster are excited about the quarterback braintrust running the offence.

Andrew Buckley will be attending his second training camp with the Stamps after finishing an incredible collegiate career that saw him capture two consecutive Hec Crighton Trophies as the top Canadian Interuniversity Sport player and post eye-popping numbers.

Dave Dickenson played for the Stamps for six seasons.

For a young Canadian quarterback, the challenge to crack a roster as talented as the Red and White’s can be daunting but Buckley’s experience at last year’s training camp as well as his participation in Dave Dickenson’s annual Passing Academy has given the rookie QB a lot of confidence going forward.

“(Attending the passing academy) was probably the most valuable thing I could have done,” says Buckley.

“I’m already familiar with some of the terminology and I already know some of the guys, so I’m not starting at ground zero. I’ve been here before so it does help out having Coach Dickenson know who I am.”

For Buckley, the biggest challenge will be catching up on the playbook that the other QBs in camp have had a few years to learn. But that doesn’t scare the Academic all-Canadian, who has been able to pick the brain of Mitchell during the off-season.

“I’ve been talking with him a lot and we’ve been out throwing the ball a couple of times,” says Buckley.

“He’s helped walk me through some reads and the finer points of football. All of the stuff that I didn’t get in college, he’s helping me out with now and just trying to help push me to that next level. He’s certainly established himself and he’s like a fifth coach out there.”

For those keeping count, we’re now up to five quarterback coaches and, if that wasn’t enough, Mitchell refers to his fellow quarterback in Drew Tate as yet another coach who thinks the game at a high level and constantly helps him figure out opposing defences.

At this pace, we might run out of fingers to keep track.

It’s a unique position to see so many former signal-callers running one side of the ball, yet Coach Dickenson seems to think that will bode very well for Calgary’s offence this season.

He points to the fact that a quarterback has to know all positions of the offence, from the receivers to the linemen to the running backs.

This allows a former quarterback Mueller bring a unique perspective to his role as running backs coach.

“A QB has to understand offensive line – at least scheme, maybe not technique,” says Dickenson.

“A QB knows protections and run game and why we’re doing stuff and obviously he should be very familiar with the pass game. So I think you’ve got a wider knowledge base when you come from the quarterback position.

“When you have (been in that position), you see the game in a different way and I think players respond to that.”