Edmonton Elks’ new CEO vows to curb turnover of players and staff

Chris Morris played each and each drawback of his 14-year CFL vocation wearing Edmonton’s greenish and gold. He won 3 Grey Cups, and described the squad arsenic a family.

As the caller president of the Edmonton Elks, Morris pledged that those household values volition instrumentality to the franchise. As an alumnus and a subordinate of the Ring of Honour, he’s watched the squad spell done the 2020s and miss the playoffs, play aft season.

He’s seen players travel in, players spell out. There person been backmost controversies and backmost carousels.

He said the civilization of signing and cutting players, and re-making the squad twelvemonth aft year, has to travel to an end.

“The archetypal happening we request to physique present is simply a championship-level shot team.” Morris said Thursday during a media league held successful the Elks’ locker country a time aft helium was confirmed arsenic the team’s caller president and main enforcement officer. “This metropolis was astir thing but championships for decades and decades. We request to beryllium a championship-level squad that competes for Grey Cups each azygous year. There’s been radical before, there’s been 5 presidents successful the past 8 years, who person sat up present and said the nonstop aforesaid thing.

“But what I volition archer you is this. We are going to physique a civilization successful bid to execute our extremity of gathering this team. Our civilization present volition beryllium 1 that values everyone, from the subordinate connected the tract to the idiosyncratic successful the beforehand bureau to the radical selling our tickets.”

The erstwhile violative tackle has been a main successful an Edmonton interior metropolis school, and spent the past 12 years rebuilding the University of Alberta Golden Bears’ shot program, which had been doormats successful Canada West. He said that, this past year, the University of Alberta’s campy programme raised much than $800,000 that went towards scholarships. When helium got to the U of A, that programme raised $30,000 a season.

His property league felt much similar a halftime team-talk from the coach, and alumni successful attendance adjacent cheered immoderate of his talking points, particularly erstwhile helium said “I committedness you, the revolving doorway is over” erstwhile it came to players and staff.

“How tin you place with a squad erstwhile 3 quarters of it turns over? ” helium said. “You archer maine different sports franchise that’s had arsenic overmuch turnover arsenic we’ve had implicit the past 3 years. You can’t physique connected that.

“Continuity is going to let our fans to find thing they tin link with and I deliberation that’s going to spell a agelong mode to get this wrong.”

He said the team’s inability to instrumentality with players and nurture them is “85 per cent” of the contented erstwhile it comes to the past half-decade of futility and waning instrumentality support.

Next connected Morris’s database is uncovering a imperishable wide manager. Geroy Simon took implicit arsenic the GM connected an interim ground aft the team’s 0-5 start. Under Simon and interim manager Jarious Jackson, the squad went 7-6 done the remainder of the year. Both men privation to support their jobs.

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Morris said the GM determination volition beryllium made by Nov. 24, which volition let him clip to speech to a mates of radical helium won’t beryllium allowed to interrogation until aft the Grey Cup.

“Geroy, Jarious, they’ve done a fantastic occupation successful resurrecting what was an atrocious season,” Morris said. “They volition beryllium powerfully considered arsenic we determination forward. However, we beryllium this city, and we beryllium everyone associated with Elks football, to find the champion shot caput to instrumentality implicit our franchise. This mightiness beryllium Geroy. But we are going to look and we are going to person an intensive search.”

With Morris’s hiring, Rich LeLacheur’s tenure arsenic the team’s interim president and CEO comes to an end. There volition beryllium a modulation play wherever helium helps Morris get comfortable, and, after, helium volition beryllium a mentor. LeLacheur volition proceed to counsel squad proprietor Larry Thompson.

LeLacheur was hired successful August of 2023, aft Victor Cui and the squad mutually agreed to portion ways. LeLacheur shepherded the Elks done a large shift, arsenic helium led the hunt for a backstage owner. This summer, Thompson bought the squad successful its 75th day season, taking it retired of the hands of assemblage ownership.

“Through the process of recruitment, Chris checked a batch of the boxes,” said LeLacheur, who had to person Morris to use for the job.

“He reminds maine of different teacher and manager and subordinate who happened to beryllium a president present successful Hugh Campbell.”