Courtesy Calgary Herald:

The Calgary Stampeders’ next head coach will also be their next general manager.

John Hufnagel is expected to take a dual role when he assumes the club’s reins after the Grey Cup is played on Nov. 25. Team brass views the former Stamps assistant coach as a once-in-a-decade type of asset and their willingness to give him full control supports their feelings.

A recurring problem for Calgary over the past three seasons has been the presence of too many authoritative voices, which undermined the possibility of having a single accountable figure and uniform message. That won’t be an issue with Hufnagel.

Members of Stamps ownership met late into Tuesday night discussing organization plans for the coming weeks and weren’t available for comment.

But Hufnagel’s pending arrival will force general manager Jim Barker into a new position. It’s believed Barker will be retained in a player personnel role, meaning he would have minimal input in the day-to-day operations and be mainly responsible for finding talent.

Meanwhile, no decision has been made on the future of head coach/vice president football operations Tom Higgins.

Both men — Barker and Higgins — put in a day’s work with the rest of the coaching staff Tuesday and claimed to be in the dark.

“Until I’m told exactly what’s happening, how can I comment on anything?” said Barker.

“I haven’t heard anything and until I do, I’m the head coach of the Calgary Stampeders,” said Higgins.

Stamps braintrust is believed to be debating whether to fire Higgins with a year remaining on his contract, or try to retain him in a different capacity within the organization.

But with movement around the Canadian Football League coaching ranks, Higgins may get a shot elsewhere. The Montreal Alouettes are expected to strip head coach-GM Jim Popp of his coaching duties and Higgins would be a nice fit there.

It’s likely Higgins will hear a verdict from the club before the weekend and a decision should be made absolutely no later than Monday. On Tuesday, the league imposes a moratorium on announcements and transactions from CFL clubs until a day after the championship game has been played.

In typical fashion, Higgins continues to roll with the punches.

“The three most important things in life are faith, family and something to do,” he said. “The top two are always there and you can always find the third one. That’s how I deal with players, too. Whether it’s a death in the family, a wife expecting or whatever, ’something to do,’ is at the bottom of that priority list. You don’t compromise the top two.”

As for Hufnagel, his arrival has been anticipated since the start of this season. He has numerous personal connections to Calgary’s ownership group.

Hufnagel, 56, was Calgary’s offensive co-ordinator from 1990 to ‘96 before he joined the New Jersey Red Dogs of Arena Football. He joined the Cleveland Browns in 1999 and spent eight seasons in the National Football League, also coaching with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots and New York Giants.