Elks' Cui on Jones: Head coaching changes would impact Elks' ops cap
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Edmonton Elks president and CEO Victor Cui spoke to TSN football insider Farhan Lalji about the future of head coach Chris Jones, saying that any change to head coaching/general manager would impact the team's ops cap in future years.
"I fully believe coach Jones is the right person to lead us," Cui said to Lalji." This isn’t about the contract or blind loyalty. He’s loved in the locker room and I believe in his vision/plan.”
The Elks recently tied MLB’s 1953 St. Louis Browns Thursday for the longest home losing streak in big four men's professional North American sports history after falling to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-29.
“[Personnel changes] is always something I think about, good or bad. That’s my job,” said Cui, following Thursday’s loss. “I have to make those tough decisions. I’ve had discussions with coach and our assistant GM [Geroy Simon] about, look ‘Let’s be honest with ourselves, let’s put our egos aside and really understand what it takes to win. What are we going to do?
The South Pittsburg, Tenn., native was named head coach of the Elks for his second stint with the franchise in 2022, following time spent with the Toronto Argonauts in 2021 as a defensive consultant.
A four-time Grey Cup champion (2002, 2008, 2012, 2015), Jones served as the vice president of football operations, general manager, head coach, and defensive coordinator for the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 2016-18, earning CFL Coach of the Year honours for the Riders' 12-6 season in 2018.
Jones' first stint with the Edmonton-based franchise started in 2014 when he was named head coach after working for the Argonauts (2012-13), Calgary Stampeders (2008-11), and Montreal Alouettes (2002-07) in defensive roles.
Jones and the Elks finished the 2022 season in last place in the West Division with a 4-12 record.