Menu
March 24, 2016

Kilam’s in for the long haul

Coach Mark Kilam with Lemar Durant during a game against BC on Sept. 18, 2015 (Photo by David Moll)

Heading into his 12th season with the Calgary Stampeders, Mark Kilam is currently the veteran coach in the Canadian Football League when it comes to consecutive years of service with the same club.

It’s also the Stamps record for longest uninterrupted stint by an assistant coach and in fact the only man who was on the Calgary sidelines longer is Wally Buono, who was head man for 13 years.

It’s not something the Lethbridge native could have allowed himself to dream about when he joined the Stamps in 2005 as a member of Tom Higgins’ staff.

“I was just looking for a door in,” said Kilam. “I started as the strength coach and literally followed (defensive coordinator) Denny Creehan around with the defence and linebackers during camp and the season.”

After a while, Creehan motioned towards the pads used by coaches during drills and asked Kilam to make himself useful

“He said, ‘If you’re going to be here, hold these bags,’ ” said Kilam, “and I said, ‘I’ll be the best bag-holder you’ve ever had.’

“Then he got me up in the box charting for them on game days and it kind of just went from there.”

In his second season, he gladly accepted an offer to become defensive quality control coach.

“I was loving every second of it and being as valuable as I could in whatever role I had,” he explained.

In 2007, he added linebackers coach to his job title. Then, in 2008, John Hufnagel came in as head coach and general manager.

The special-teams coordinator and a pair of offensive coaches were retained from the previous administration but Kilam was the lone holdover on the defensive side of the ball.

“No one really knew what to expect from Huff,” he said. “That first year, too — he was especially gruff and he was an intimidating person to talk to. But I had survived (the coaching change) and I tried to grow and moved on with (new defensive coordinator) Chris Jones.”

Kilam became special-teams coordinator in 2010 and has remained in that role ever since.

After eight years and two Grey Cups, Hufnagel gave up coaching to concentrate on the general manager’s role and Dave Dickenson became the new head coach. Dave’s brother Craig, a longtime CFL special-teams coordinator, was potentially available and there was no shortage of people wanting to put two and two together.

“The inevitability of moving in pro football is something you have to prepare yourself for,” he admitted. “I had been super-fortunate during the Huff era — those had been eight solid seasons. When Dave was taking over, my family and I were prepared to move.”

After some discussions with the new head coach, it was determined that Kilam would return for Year 12 with the Red and White.

Continuity has been the hallmark of the Stamps’ special-teams unit under Kilam. Only three people have kicked or punted the ball during regular-season action for the Red and White since 2010 and all three of them — Burke Dales, Rob Maver and Rene Paredes — have earned all-star honours.

“There are really two reasons why the longevity has happened,” suggested Kilam. “One, I’ve been in an amazing organization with consistent and solid leadership for the whole time I’ve been here. And they allowed me to grow and make mistakes.

“I’ve learned from some of the best — it started way back with Tom Higgins, Ted Hellard, John Forzani, Stan Schwartz, Chris Jones, Rick Campbell, Huff, Ken King, Stubes (Rich Stubler), John Murphy . . . the list goes on. Just being a part of that, I was super-fortunate.

“The second reason was that we’ve had really good players. The kickers have all been all-stars, but all through the organization there have been guys who have done the hard work and won a lot of games. That is what has allowed me to stay.”

Coach Mark Kilam with William Langlais during a game in Winnipeg on Aug. 29, 2016 (Photo by David Moll)