2024 Season Week 6

[maxlion]

Elks were fairly competitive despite their record. Things could get worse rather than better, but will hope for the best for Geroy and Jarious' sake. Hard to tell whether Jones had them on the right track. In the end you can only lose so much before patience runs out. Maybe just a different energy around the team could help. I can imagine things might have been a bit tense around the team in recent weeks. Perhaps the fun can come back.

[Hambone]

Geroy has enough experience he should be ok but poor Jarious has enough trouble getting plays in on time when he is sitting up in the booth, and now with the added responsibility of head coach not sure he is the right guy.

Bede was unable to shoot the ball into the field of play but he ended up shooting it right into Jones heart.

It's always difficult to make such changes mid-season because you leave yourself restricted to either internal candidates or the unemployed. Further complicating things in Edmonton is the attempted sale. Anybody not already in the organization would want a contract longer that "rest of the season" length. It would take a desperate man to come on board knowing he's 13 games and likely down the road. Any experienced candidate would want a contract beyond 2024, something the current regime may be reluctant to saddle new owners with.

In that regard IMO LeLacheur had to go with Geroy and Jarious. Nobody else on the coaching staff made any more sense for HC that Jarious.

[Hambone]

Firing come as no surprise.

I'm surprised only in that I thought the ongoing effort to sell the club might muddy the waters. I think the organization found itself in a damned if you do, damned if you don't spot. They likely were hoping the club would get some traction this season to where new ownership could make the decision instead of the current regime having to make if for new ownership.

[don corleone]

Sounds like HC / OC dual responsibilities for Jarious. Wonder if they gave him a new contract or maybe just the option of keeping his job.

[Hambone]

Sounds like HC / OC dual responsibilities for Jarious. Wonder if they gave him a new contract or maybe just the option of keeping his job.

Unless his current deal expires after 2025 he will have to earn a new contract by chalking up wins. Apparently the terms of Jones contract call for 12 months pay after firing so EE is only in the hook for part of next year. With the team supposedly for sale giving Jackson more term than his current contract calls for could be saddling new ownership with people they don't necessarily want.

If the Elks were putting up consistent winning seasons in the past couple of years having their GM and HC under contract beyond this season could be a selling point for those interested in buying. Unfortunately Geroy and Jarious are very much part of the Jones tire fire that has produced an 8-33 record.

[B.C.FAN]

Firing come as no surprise.

I'm surprised only in that I thought the ongoing effort to sell the club might muddy the waters. I think the organization found itself in a damned if you do, damned if you don't spot. They likely were hoping the club would get some traction this season to where new ownership could make the decision instead of the current regime having to make if for new ownership.

Rick LeLacheur says it was his decision to fire Jones but he cleared it with the board and all prospective owners and they were supportive.

[Toppy Vann]

Let's face it, Chris Jones proved over and over since coming back to the CFL his ways weren't going to win many football games. The Bede kick out of bounds was unbelievable as Bede should have known better. Not sure who their ST coach is but I'd put more of the blame there.


BUT firing Chris Jones with NO ONE in that organization close to being of HC calibre is beyond belief. Jarius Jackson struggles as a coordinator now, asking him to be the HC is insane. I'm sure it was Jones who got MBT and a host of others to sign there, not Simon or Jackson or LeLacheur who has been an abject failure with the Elks.

LeLacheur pretty much has doomed Jackson and Simon as a new GM and HC is unlikely to keep them around and given the loss of Jones, they're kind of short in coaching talent.


This pretty much sums up my views.

LeLacheur said he felt there had to be consequences following an 0-5 start, calling professional football “a results-based business.” It’s unclear why he didn’t feel the same way when he was hired last year as the team was 1-9 with five of those losses coming by double digits, including two shutouts.

[don corleone]

Unless his current deal expires after 2025 he will have to earn a new contract by chalking up wins. Apparently the terms of Jones contract call for 12 months pay after firing so EE is only in the hook for part of next year. With the team supposedly for sale giving Jackson more term than his current contract calls for could be saddling new ownership with people they don't necessarily want.

If the Elks were putting up consistent winning seasons in the past couple of years having their GM and HC under contract beyond this season could be a selling point for those interested in buying. Unfortunately Geroy and Jarious are very much part of the Jones tire fire that has produced an 8-33 record.

I agree there is no extension but at the same time they can't expect him to take on more responsibility for the same wage especially when their is such a large gap between the two jobs.

I also mentioned about the 17 days off between games and the Elks coming out slow. Horrid knee jerk reaction imo and bad for the league.

[tedbear]

Let's face it, Chris Jones proved over and over since coming back to the CFL his ways weren't going to win many football games. The Bede kick out of bounds was unbelievable as Bede should have known better. Not sure who their ST coach is but I'd put more of the blame there.


BUT firing Chris Jones with NO ONE in that organization close to being of HC calibre is beyond belief. Jarius Jackson struggles as a coordinator now, asking him to be the HC is insane. I'm sure it was Jones who got MBT and a host of others to sign there, not Simon or Jackson or LeLacheur who has been an abject failure with the Elks.

LeLacheur pretty much has doomed Jackson and Simon as a new GM and HC is unlikely to keep them around and given the loss of Jones, they're kind of short in coaching talent.


This pretty much sums up my views.

LeLacheur said he felt there had to be consequences following an 0-5 start, calling professional football “a results-based business.” It’s unclear why he didn’t feel the same way when he was hired last year as the team was 1-9 with five of those losses coming by double digits, including two shutouts.

You are bang on with this post Toppy Vann

[Sir Purrcival]

Honestly, calling the dismissal beyond belief might be a bit overstated. 8-33 is not exactly indicative of a team that is on the cusp of becoming competitive. Jones also has a fairly clear pattern of wearing out his welcome wherever he goes. At about year 3, he seems to get to a place where he is in peril. He has burned bridges in the past and frankly, he might have been a mistake to hire in the first instance. I didn't see the team being this bad under his watch but clearly after this amount of time, he has failed to either inspire the personnel he has or get the personnel he needs to turn the Elks around. At one point, he had a reputation of being a bright new star in coaching circles but that time has long past. It has been nearly 10 years since he has been a meaningful part of anything successful in terms of championships and his one Grey Cup as HC has been followed up with exactly nada. He bolted from the Riders 1 week after renewing his contract to go to the NFL Browns. Lasted 1 year in a 2 year contract before being given an office job. Then managed to get his Alma Mater high school team suspended for recruitment violations (sounds like Chris Jones) only to eventually make his way back to the CFL briefly as a consultant for the Argos before then taking on the Elks gig. He has a long track record of stretching the rules and being a bit shady IMO. I don't think he has been a positive influence on this league and if he were to be gone, never to return, I wouldn't shed a tear. That being said, he is still a person who has lost his employment. I just hope he finds his next gig somewhere other than the CFL.

[B.C.FAN]

Honestly, calling the dismissal beyond belief might be a bit overstated. 8-33 is not exactly indicative of a team that is on the cusp of becoming competitive. Jones also has a fairly clear pattern of wearing out his welcome wherever he goes. At about year 3, he seems to get to a place where he is in peril. He has burned bridges in the past and frankly, he might have been a mistake to hire in the first instance. I didn't see the team being this bad under his watch but clearly after this amount of time, he has failed to either inspire the personnel he has or get the personnel he needs to turn the Elks around. At one point, he had a reputation of being a bright new star in coaching circles but that time has long past. It has been nearly 10 years since he has been a meaningful part of anything successful in terms of championships and his one Grey Cup as HC has been followed up with exactly nada. He bolted from the Riders 1 week after renewing his contract to go to the NFL Browns. Lasted 1 year in a 2 year contract before being given an office job. Then managed to get his Alma Mater high school team suspended for recruitment violations (sounds like Chris Jones) only to eventually make his way back to the CFL briefly as a consultant for the Argos before then taking on the Elks gig. He has a long track record of stretching the rules and being a bit shady IMO. I don't think he has been a positive influence on this league and if he were to be gone, never to return, I wouldn't shed a tear. That being said, he is still a person who has lost his employment. I just hope he finds his next gig somewhere other than the CFL.

Agreed. It was a terrible move by the Elks to rehire Jones, especially after he bolted with his staff after winning the Grey Cup. That organization deserves all the suffering it has endured during his tenure. Rick LeLacheur did what was necessary to clean things up and allow new ownership to come in with a clean slate.

[Hambone]

Those dumping on LeLacheur may be forgetting a few things. He was parachuted in on an interim basis as President and CEO less than 11 months ago. His main objective was to try cleaning up the tirefire that had erupted both off and on the field under Victor Cui and Chris Jones who in hindsight seemed to have only tossed more gasoline on the fire started under Brock Sunderund and Jaime Elizondo.

The financial dire straits the organization has been dealing with really started 3 years ago. The proverbial horse was long gone from the barn and the barn was engulfed in flames when the EE BOD asked Rick to come out of retirement to go through the process of identifying and hiring a permanent President. That has since morphed into exploring a potential sale to private interests due to the fact they've drained themselves nearly dry of operating capitial after everything that has gone on. LeLacheur did not hire Jones nor did he have any say in the staff assembled by Jones. Jones, Simon, Jackson, Howell and Sorrells were all there prior to RL. Jones finally turned his DC hat in and hired Jason Shivers this year.

I believe the BOD and RL desperately hoped Jones would start chalking up some wins so they could work on the sale. Originally RL was to help find a permanent President but once rhe financial crisis festered beyond repair that no longer mattered. Priority #1 was to close a sale allowing new ownership to set up their own management structure.

The way things have unfolded as much as they hoped to gut it out this year that was no longer an option. They are bleeding fans. The season opening crowd was the 2nd lowest in Commonwealth history at the time.....and that was with Saskatchewan visiting. It was about 700 better than a Thursday night affair last year that ironically was their last home game before Cui departed. Their last 2 crowds were 15790 vs defending GC champ Montreal and 18362 souls for the Ottawa debacle, the worst 2 crowds in the 46 year history of Commonwealth. It's guaranteed if they didn't make some sort of move now the downward spiral would continue when Hamilton comes to visit on July 28. A new record low is not inconceivable. The organization had to do something to try stopping the bleeding. Removing the architect of the 8-33 team was the only option.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/ ... -1.6943753

[OV:54-40]

I find it very hard to believe there was anything close to 18 or 15 K bums in the seats there the last 2 games.

Getting rid of that clown Jones is a big first step to improving things there IMO; not sure if Geroy & J. Jackson are up to the task of improving things on the field, but a nice opportunity to show some guts & smarts.

I hope CFL football is not a lost cause in that town.

[Hambone]

I find it very hard to believe there was anything close to 18 or 15 K bums in the seats there the last 2 games.

Getting rid of that clown Jones is a big first step to improving things there IMO; not sure if Geroy & J. Jackson are up to the task of improving things on the field, but a nice opportunity to show some guts & smarts.

I hope CFL football is not a lost cause in that town.

If you believe those numbers were actual bums in seats then you believe every announced attendance in the world of sports is an actual bums in seats count.

I too hope things are not a lost cause. However they were at the point where inaction would only serve to further grease the apathy skids. I don't believe the EE brand is irreparably damaged but it's going to be a long-term project to build it back up, one fan at a time, to its stature of say a dozen years ago....and that stature pales in comparison to the glory years of the 70s and 80s.

[don corleone]

One thing about Edmonton is a lower season ticket count due to Commonwealth being such a huge venue and never the worry about getting a seat. It wouldn't take much to trigger stronger game day sales given a reason to go to the game. The fans are there.

To say Edmonton was not competitive this year is flat out wrong although it is safe to safe they were not playing to their potential. Dave Dickenson and Calgary have been arguably just as bad.

Doubt Jim Barker would have made the same move given the circumstances.