Chris Jones fired by Edmonton Elks

The Edmonton Elks fired Chris Jones on Monday after the Canadian Football League team’s head coach and general manager guided it to a 0-5 start to the 2024 season.

The move came less than 24 hours after the Elks — who sit last in the CFL’s West Division, four points behind the fourth-place Winnipeg Blue Bombers — dropped a 37-34 decision at home to the Ottawa Redblacks on a last-second field-goal, their third such loss in a row.

“When you have three walk-off losses in a row, something is wrong and we’ve got to get it right,” Elks president and chief executive officer Rick LeLacheur said Monday at a media conference following Jones’s dismissal.

LeLacheur said he consulted with the Elks’ board of directors and all prospective owners — the community-owned team is looking to sell to private interests — before firing Jones, who was five games into his third season with the Elks.

Geroy Simon and Jarious Jackson have been named interim GM and head coach, respectively.

Jones leaves with a record of 8-33 after joining the Green and Gold for a second tour of duty in Edmonton prior to the 2022 CFL season, replacing Brock Sutherland and Jaime Elizondo.

Jones had previously coached the team in 2014 and 2015, winning the Grey Cup the latter year, before departing to take over head coaching and GM duties for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Jackson, who added head-coaching duties to his role as offensive coordinator, said the departure of Jones “is a tough situation” but that the players still “believe” in the direction of the team.

“The locker room is still together, and I just want them to have hope and push forward and know that we can get wins going down the stretch,” he said.

Jackson said players and fans can expect “a few tweaks,” but that quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson will remain as the Elks’ starter despite calls for Tre Ford for take over as the lead signal-caller.

Ford replaced Taylor Cornelius as the team’s top QB last season and won four games but stepped into a backup role after Bethel-Thompson joined Edmonton this season as a free agent.

“There may be some tweaks on how we go about doing things, but McLeod is still our quarterback,” said Jackson, adding he may look at getting all three of the Elks’ quarterbacks involved in games, including third-stringer Dakota Prukop, who typically handles short-yardage situations.

“I believe in Dakota and I believe in Tre. Some way or another, we’ll figure out if we need to get all the guys on the field in some form or fashion.”

The Elks’ next game is Friday, when they travel to Ottawa for a rematch with the Redblacks.