EDMONTON 鈥� Chris Jones made it clear, over and over again, on Tuesday as he was introduced as the new coach and general manager of the Edmonton Elks 鈥� he intends to not only rebuild the football team, but entrench himself as one of the CFL鈥檚 greats.
He said he wants his name to be mentioned alongside the likes of Wally Buono, the CFL鈥檚 all-time winningest coach, and John Hufnagel, who ranks no. 9 on the all-time coaching wins list.
鈥淭his is where I try to build a legacy,鈥� Jones told the media Tuesday as he stood in the Elks鈥� locker room, surrounded by plaques bearing the names of some of the all-time greats in CFL history. 鈥淔our years from now, I don鈥檛 have a crystal ball, but I can tell you we鈥檙e going to work as hard as anybody. We鈥檙e going to be organized, we鈥檙e going to play fast and have fun doing it.鈥�
Jones, who coached the Edmonton franchise to a Grey Cup win in 2015, was introduced after the team鈥檚 board of governors unanimously voted Monday night to hire him as the GM and coach. It鈥檚 a four-year deal.
鈥淭his is one of the flagship organizations of the league,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淲e had so much fun when we were here prior with our staff. It鈥檚 an opportunity for us to come back and cement our legacy as a group, and cement the legacy of this organization, to get it back where it should be, and that鈥檚 winning football games 鈥� and being ultracompetitive at all times, both in practice and in games.鈥�
It was Buono who was tasked by the board to create a short-list of coaching candidates. Jones said he鈥檚 talked to Buono for more than 10 hours 鈥� all totalled 鈥� during the hiring process, and that he takes down nuggets of wisdom from the CFL鈥檚 winningest coach and saves them on his phone.
鈥淣ow it鈥檚 time to do like Wally and Huf and settle down and let鈥檚 do it for a long period of time, and have fun doing it.鈥� said Jones.
But, before he can address history, Jones needs to fix a team that has a lot of question marks, maybe none more glaring than at the quarterback position.聽
Last season, the Elks made a late-season trade to acquire veteran Nick Arbuckle, but then-GM Brock Sunderland and coach Jaime Elizondo opted to not play him at all down the stretch. They claimed he just didn鈥檛 have time to get used to the offensive scheme. So, Taylor Cornelius and Dakota Prukop got the snaps as the Elks sputtered to the gate with a 3-11 record. And, for the first time ever, the team went through a CFL season without a home victory.
鈥淓very team has got to have a great quarterback, certainly we鈥檙e no different,鈥� Jones said, but warned it would take at least a couple of months before the coaching staff can finish evaluating the position. So, the radio talk-show hosts will have a lot of 'what ifs' to discuss when it comes to Edmonton football over the next couple of months.
The four-year-deal is significant, as Jones left bad tastes in the mouth of many fans as he left Edmonton right after the 2015 Grey Cup win to take the reins with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He then joined the coaching staff of the NFL鈥檚 Cleveland Browns before joining the Toronto Argonauts as a defensive consultant.
He promised he would not only work to rebuild the Elks, but to meet with high-school coaches and build the sport in the community. As for maybe going back to the NFL one day?
鈥淚鈥檝e been to Disney World, and I鈥檓 glad I am right here.鈥�
He received an enthusiastic welcome from Ian Murray, the chair of the Elks鈥� board of governors.
鈥淭his is the first proactive step to turning around the problems we鈥檝e had,鈥� Murray said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 21, 2021.
Steven Sandor, The Canadian Press
