Orimolade ready to lead rebuilding Stampeders

Defensive end Folarin Orimolade returns to the Calgary Stampeders with another Grey Cup ring and ready to be contribute to a revamped culture with his new club.

The 29-year-old Orimolade, the league’s highest-paid defensive end, was dealt by the Toronto Argonauts back to the Stamps – the club that originally signed him as a free agent back in 2018 out of Dartmouth College – for Canadian linebacker Cam Judge last week. Orimolade was part of the Stamps’ last Grey Cup championship team in his rookie year.

“It caught me off-guard that [Calgary] was an option,” Orimolade, a 2024 Grey Cup champion, said on Monday. “I knew if I didn’t renegotiate, I was going to get traded. I just didn’t know where.”

Orimolade fills several crucial needs for the rebuilding Stamps. 

Calgary’s pass rush and run defence were near the bottom of the league last season. The Stamps allowed the most rushing yards and had the second-fewest sacks in 2024. Orimolade has a total of 16 sacks over the past two seasons.

“I’m actually very surprised he was on the trade block,” said head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson at the league’s winter meetings in Nashville. “He’s had a few injuries, but when he plays, he’s one of the best.”

Dickenson touted Orimolade’s physical tools and the impact he can have on opposing offences.

“Flo’s built different than a lot of people,” Dickenson said. “Twitchy, strong, relentless motor, violent, super smart, great person.”

Orimolade will also be relied upon in the locker room to contribute to a new culture. 

He returns to a very different Stampeders team than the one he left in 2023. There’s a new franchise quarterback in Vernon Adams, Jr., new defensive coordinator in Bob Slowik, and several other changes in the organization. Calgary is coming off its first non-playoff season in two decades and has just 11 wins combined over the last two years. 

“They brought me in to be a leader,” Orimolade said. “I came over there as a rookie. I’m coming back with a little bit more maturity and pedigree and being able to set a culture of winning…be part of the reason for the right step forward.”

Several current and former Stamps have spoken publicly about the franchise in recent months. 

During the 2024 season, receiver Reggie Begelton told TSN he felt there was a “generational gap” between rookies and veterans. After winning the Grey Cup with the Argos, running back Ka’Deem Carey called his former club “a bad organization. We laugh at them.” The franchise also received several poor grades in the Canadian Football League Players’ Association's anonymous survey of players.

Dickenson defended the organization he starred for as quarterback. 

“I’m good with the culture,” he said. “We have already, as an organization, looked to address anywhere where we can improve, and we feel like we’ve got an idea and a plan to do that.”

Dickenson allowed that a trying campaign has forced the franchise to change in certain aspects. 

“We need to increase our presence in the U.S.,” he said. “We need to get to know more and more scouts and more and more contacts. We need guys excited to come to Calgary and the CFL.”

He also said that the public comments could have a positive impact.

“For the most part as an organization, we need to hear where we need to be better, and we’re trying to address it,” he said. “We’re in need of a little bit of a shot in the arm. We need some juice. We need some good things to happen for us.”

Orimolade said he is looking forward to being part of the solution in his second stint in Calgary.

“It all starts with a committed buy-in and want-to and joy of playing,” he said. “The infrastructure is still there to do that. I think it’s just about being consistent every day to make sure that it’s actualized when we start training camp and playing games…most of the things are there culturally, I think it’s just about being a positive influence and making it be a consistent thing over and over.”