With the CFL season two months away, Calgary Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson adds two coaches to the staff.
The announcement came Thursday with the addition of defensive assistant Bob Slowik and offensive assistant T.J. Vernieri.
“I am very excited to add Bob and T.J. to our coaching staff. They are certainly a study in contrasts. T.J. is an eager young coach just getting his feet wet in professional football and Bob certainly has a wealth of knowledge after more than three decades of coaching in the pros and college. This is a terrific opportunity to bring new ideas and voices into our coaching group and I know they will both be great additions to the team.”
Calgary Stampeders Head Coach Dave Dickenson
Slowik has plenty of experience as a defensive coach in the NFL and the CFL. His first defensive coordinator role came in 1993 when he was hired by the Chicago Bears to run their defense. Slowik stayed in the role until 1998 when the then head coach Dave Wannstedt was fired from the team. The next season, he would join the expansion team Cleveland Browns for one season as defensive coordinator. He would be defensive two more times in the NFL coaching the Green Bay Packers in 2004 and the Denver Broncos in 2007 and 2008.
After being out of coaching since 2013, Slowik made his return as defensive coordinator in the CFL in 2019. He was named defensive coordinator for the Montreal Alouettes. In his only season with the coach, Slowik led a defense that allowed the second-fewest points in the East Division. The defense allowed an average of 26.9 points per game as the Alouettes made the playoffs losing in the semi-final against Edmonton.
Before Vernieri was a coach, he played receiver at the University of Connecticut and made the American Athletic Conference all-academic team in both 2016 and 2017. He then made the transition as a student-assistant with Connecticut in 2018. Vernieri spent the last two years as wide receivers coach at Lycoming College, a Division III university in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Slowik and Vernieri join special teams coordinator and assistant head coach Mark Kilam, offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Pat DelMonaco, defensive coordinator Brent Monson, quarterbacks and running backs Marc Mueller, defensive backs coach and CFL draft coordinator Dwayne Cameron, defensive line coach Corey Mace and receivers coach Marquay McDaniel. The coaching staff combines for more than 70 years of experience. The moves look to be the final pieces to a coaching staff ready to make a run for the Grey Cup in 2021 when the season starts in August.
