Former Edmonton Elks head coach and general manager Chris Jones.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Close wasn’t good enough for the Edmonton Elks, and Chris Jones has paid the price.
The decision to fire the Elks’ general manager and coach came down to one man: Rick LeLacheur.
The Elks’ president and CEO said no one else had input into the call. He informed the board of the community-owned CFL team Monday morning that Jones would be replaced, with Geroy Simon taking over as general manager, and offensive co-ordinator Jarious Jackson assuming interim head coaching duties.
The team is currently in talks with potential private owners, and LeLacheur confirmed he let them know of his decision.
“The major thing is we have not given up on this year,” LeLacheur said. “When you’re 0-5, there’s got to be some consequences. It’s a results-based business. I’ve worked with Geroy and Jarious in the past, and I have full confidence in them. We all know we have a better team than we had last year, but, at the end of the day, we’re still 0-5.”
The Elks are winless, but all five of their losses were one-score games. Incredibly, the team has lost each of its last three games on last-second field goals.
“We are 0-5,” said Jackson. “We don’t get any brownie points for keeping games close, right? It’s about the Ws. At the end of the day, it’s the only thing that matters. Stats don’t matter.”
LeLacheur was president of the B.C. Lions when Simon was in the front office, and Jackson was the team’s offensive co-ordinator.
Jones previously served as Elks head coach in 2014 and 2015, when he led the team to a Grey Cup title.
LeLacheur said that he began thinking about making the switch after the 2023 season, when the Elks finished 4-14. Overall, the club had a record of 8-33 over two-plus seasons during Jones’s second time in charge, including two seasons (2021, 2022) without a win at Commonwealth Stadium as part of a 22-game home losing streak. The team hasn’t made the playoffs since 2019.
But the final straw was the three last-second losses, including Sunday’s 37-34 setback at home.
“When you have three walk-off losses in a row, there’s something wrong – and we’ve got to get it right,” said LeLacheur.
Simon and Jackson don’t have a lot of time to put their stamps on the team. The Elks and Redblacks played Sunday at Commonwealth, and then face each other again Friday in the nation’s capital.
So, when it comes to long-term plans, both men said their focus is solely on Thursday’s game, instead. And Simon doesn’t think the team needs a major overhaul, just some “tweaks” here and there.
“I am incredibly confident in our roster,” Simon said. “I feel confident in Jarious and the staff that we have.
“We have a talented roster. We have the guys in the room. Guys are confident.”
He said this year’s edition of the Elks is “bigger, faster and stronger” than the 2023.
“Now we’ve got to play a little bit smarter.”
Jones decided to sign veteran CFL quarterback and Grey Cup winner McLeod Bethel-Thompson during the off-season, relegating popular Canadian quarterback Tre Ford to second-string status. He also traded arguably the team’s best lineman, Jake Ceresna, to the Argos for wide receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr.
While there were noticeable chants of “we want Tre” from the fans in attendance at Sunday’s game, Jackson said that Bethel-Thompson remains the No. 1, though he does want to give backups Ford and Dakota Prukop some specialized roles in the offence.
“There’s not a change in quarterback,” said Jackson. “There may be some tweaks. McLeod is still our [starting] quarterback, but I believe in Dakota and I believe in Tre.”