New Elks GM Ed Hervey seeks to elevate once-proud CFL club from ‘laughingstock’ status

Ed Hervey didn’t clasp backmost erstwhile describing the Edmonton Elks team.

“I bash not similar wherever the nine sits successful the CFL, arsenic acold arsenic the perception” said Hervey, who connected Wednesday was introduced arsenic the team’s caller wide manager. “I would equate it to laughingstock.”

For a franchise that has not been to the playoffs since 2019, that endured a 22-game location losing streak betwixt 2019 and 2023, that has seen attendance dip to the constituent wherever absorption closed the precocious vessel of Commonwealth Stadium, Hervey’s reflection is thing but the brutal truth.

But helium promised the turnaround began the 2nd helium was hired.

“To the galore radical I bash know, this is instrumentality two,” said Hervey. “To the galore radical I don’t know, you’re going to recognize that I’m intense, I’m focused, I’m each astir winning. I volition bash what it takes to win.”

And helium enactment retired a nationalist plea to immoderate players who mightiness not see Edmonton a destination due to the fact that of the franchise’s caller missteps.

“The h2o is warm,” helium said.

Hervey was the wide manager successful Edmonton from 2013-16, including a Grey Cup rubric successful 2015. Hervey played 8 CFL seasons, each of them successful Edmonton greenish and gold, and won 2 CFL titles arsenic a player. He has been profoundly rooted successful Alberta’s shot community, and helped pb a acme that would alteration however insignificant shot programming is offered successful the province.

He returns to Edmonton from Hamilton, wherever helium was the wide manager of the Tiger Cats this past season. He thanked the Tiger-Cats’ enactment for allowing him the accidental to interrogation for the Elks’ job.

He was the B.C. Lions’ GM from 2018-19.

He said he’s a antithetic antheral than the 1 who ran the Elks successful the mid-2010s. The caller passing of his parent gave him intermission to refocus, and helium recognizes a large portion of his occupation is winning backmost the fans’ trust.

He was wide that helium saw the bare seats astatine Commonwealth not arsenic a motion of instrumentality apathy, but arsenic a protestation implicit the mode the squad was being tally implicit the past half-decade.

Hervey’s hiring closes the doorway connected Geroy Simon, who took implicit arsenic the team’s interim wide manager 5 games into the 2024 season. Chris Jones was relieved of coaching and absorption duties aft an 0-5 start, and Simon, on with interim caput manager Jarious Jackson, stabilized the squad and led it to a 7-6 grounds the remainder of the mode – but it was not capable to situation for a playoff spot.

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Both Jackson and Simon had been vocal astir wanting to support their jobs.

Elks president Chris Morris, a erstwhile teammate of Hervey’s, said that, portion the interrogation process was “rigorous,” the prime was an casual one.

“There was nary uncertainty arsenic to who was the astir qualified idiosyncratic for this job,” said Morris. “There was nary uncertainty arsenic to who had much experience, oregon the top level of acquisition for this job. And determination was nary uncertainty arsenic to who was the idiosyncratic I felt was successful the champion presumption to pb this enactment from a shot standpoint.”

While determination were galore players and alumni present, 1 idiosyncratic not successful the Elks’ dressing country for the property league was pending free-agent backmost Tre Ford. The erstwhile first-round draught prime of the Elks has been a instrumentality favourite, but has been rotated successful and retired the starting occupation implicit the past mates of seasons.

At the extremity of the 2023, helium had won the starting job, but the Canadian was moved to a backup relation erstwhile the nine signed McLeod Bethel-Thompson, whose declaration besides expired astatine the extremity of the 2024 campaign.

“I deliberation Tre Ford is simply a precise dynamic player,” said Hervey. “I don’t cognize him personally, I americium looking guardant to having the accidental to talk with him. I’m looking guardant to talking to him astir his acquisition here, and seeing wherever helium sees his future. I privation to speech to him astir my vision.

“If we tin find communal crushed arsenic to what that looks like, I americium going to springiness him each accidental to compete, to beryllium the starter here. But it takes two.”

And, helium said the hunt for a imperishable caput manager volition instrumentality arsenic agelong arsenic it needs to take, and jokingly promised that the deadline to person that idiosyncratic successful spot volition beryllium earlier the opening of adjacent season.

“He’s going to beryllium a grown-up. We’re not going to person a temper-tantrum-like manager moving around,” helium said. “We’re going to person a manager who is assured successful what he’s doing.”