Complacency: A feeling of calm satisfaction with your own abilities or situation that prevents you from trying harder.
Complacency is a word the Toronto Argonauts have acknowledged but are working hard to keep out of the locker room.
Sunday marked the first full day of training camp, and once again the team will work out of the spectacular facilities at the University of Guelph. This year there’s a bit of a different vibe; and not just because of the team’s new bright blue helmets.
The team is the defending Grey Cup champion, something the head coach is hoping doesn’t make the team even a little complacent.
“No question,” Ryan Dinwiddie said to reporters after practice. “That’s what you’re always worried about after a championship, guys let down and forget what it takes to get there. I’ve been telling all of those guys through the whole off-season, let’s forget about the Grey Cup, that’s in the past, we can’t be looking in the rear-view mirror.”
Winning the Grey Cup in back-to-back years isn’t done by a lot of people, though the Argos have someone on their roster who has done it in each of the last three seasons. Running back Andrew Harris signed with the Double Blue in 2022 after winning two straight Cups with the Blue Bombers.
His advice on how to eliminate complacency is simple.
“Last year’s dead, last year’s over,” he told Argonauts.ca. “We can’t dwell on what we’ve done in the past; it’s all about what we’re doing in the future. But there are positives you can take from what we did last year and just try to improve on those things.”
Harris is comfortable with the position the Argos are in going forward.
“We’ve got the majority of the nucleus back from last year. We’re missing a couple of big pieces but the guys that are coming in are hungry and they’re very capable. Now it’s just about rallying around those guys and making everything seamless. We’ll be just fine.”
Someone who has talked about the potential of complacency creeping in is Henoc Muamba. The veteran linebacker finally won his first Grey Cup last season, so this is uncharted water for him. He spoke to several players about that potential self-satisfaction creeping in, including Harris.
“I’m a student of life, I’m a student of the game,” Muamba told Argonauts.ca. “It’s a question I’ve been asking a lot of the guys in the locker room that have done it, starting with Andrew.”
He’s specifically asked Harris why it worked in Winnipeg in terms of their repeat, while asking other players and coaches who have won a title why their team didn’t go back-to-back.
“It’s human nature to not really push yourself to the brink, to the limit,” said Muamba. “However, when you’ve got guys like we have in the locker room and the understanding that we have, I love that we’re having that conversation now. No one is out here feeling like we’re too good, no one is out here feeling like it’s going to be a walk in the park. Other teams are going to see this flashy blue and we’re going to be a target. Every single team is going to give us their best and we’re trying to get ready for that.”
ARGO NOTES: The Argos made couple of roster moves late Saturday night. Veteran Theren Churchill was traded to Edmonton for a conditional draft pick, while fellow offensive lineman Braydon Noll was released. The club also announced that defensive back Parnell Motley has been added to the suspended list, though he’s en route to Guelph. The Churchill and Noll moves leave the club with seven returning Canadian o-linemen, along with 2023 draft picks Edouard Paradis and Anthony Vandal…Dinwiddie on the Churchill trade: “Churchill’s got a young family…he kind of wanted to be closer to home (Stettler, Alberta). We didn’t know exactly how he was going to fit in here with our roster, we feel good about our o-line depth, so it was a chance for him to get closer to home and for us to get a pick out of it.” …If there was a good omen for the season it came on the first play of “skelly” (offensive vs. defense with no linemen). Chad Kelly threw deep down the right sideline to Kurleigh Gittens Jr., who made the corner route catch inside the 10-yard line and walked in for a touchdown…Kelly looked exceptionally crisp throughout the day and was perfect in his first series…One of the busier receivers was Dejon Brissett, who had multiple receptions on Kelly passes, also connecting with Ben Holmes when he was in at QB…Jim Barker – who recently resigned as the team’s senior advisor to take a job on the TSN panel – was in attendance…Andrew Harris does not look like a player heading into his final CFL season. He showed off some of his quickness during the scrimmage…The offense seemed to be a bit ahead of the defence on Day One, which is a bit unusual. Among the bright spots for the defense was an interception by Tarvarus McFadden…The Argos will benefit from having the entire coaching staff back from a year ago. It’s unusual, but something Dinwiddie experienced in Calgary. He says it’s a huge help. “It’s great. They feel comfortable with the scheme and I’m not teaching it to a whole new staff again. We’ve got a great staff; they did a great job and I’m happy they all decided to come back.” …After 75 games over seven years in the NFL, then two years out of football, Dontrelle Inman was back in Double Blue. He was in his familiar number 11, the same number he wore as a member of the 2012 Grey Cup championship team. He’d play other year in Toronto before heading south…Among those on the field as a guest coach was a familiar face in Canadian university football. Pat Sheahan won a Vanier Cup as the head coach at Queen’s and two others as an assistant with Calgary and McGill. He also reached the championship game as the head coach at Concordia. Sheahan is currently the offensive line coach in Guelph, where is son Ryan is the head coach…Monday the team will be on the field at Guelph’s Alumni Stadium for early stretching at 9:00, with the practice running from 9:55-12:20.