Were the Edmonton Elks right to overhaul things coming into this year?

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This time, it was supposed to be different.

And while there have been telltale signs the Edmonton Elks are turning over a new leaf, the truth is, they appear to be regressing from where they were a season ago.

After finishing the 2024 season with a 7-11 record to eclipse the four-win mark for the first time in three years, an Elks club that came under new ownership on Aug. 15 decided to go with new brass, dumping general manager Geroy Simon and interim head coach Jarious Jackson, who had taken over from the ousted Chris Jones following an 0-5 start.

Fast-forward exactly one year to the day of his departure, and if the Elks are any better, it’s on paper only.

At 1-4, it appears like more of the same. Only this time, it has a feeling of being even worse because of all the changes made across the top of the organization. Things were supposed to be different this time as the Elks looked to open their first full season in the new era of private ownership.

So much for the fresh start.

For as much as Larry Thompson wanted to distance his new purchase from its recent past, and get back to the winning ways of days gone by under the old Eskimos banner, an entire overhaul of football operations staff now has the Elks engine stuck in reverse.

Officially, the offence moved the ball forward 160 yards in their most recent loss, a demoralizing 32-14 result against the B.C. Lions, where the final score didn’t resemble anything close to how lopsided things were on the field.

In fact, the Elks engine was barely running at all. The team that led the league in rushing yards a season ago, averaging 131 yards per game, was held to less than half of that at just 66 yards on 12 rushes.

And don’t bother pointing the finger of blame solely at Tre Ford. The run-and-gun quarterback didn’t get a chance to set his feet with the way his offensive line played in front of him. Or didn’t play, rather.

In all, the offence earned 4.9 yards per play, which, if you do the quick math, isn’t good enough in a league where they have two downs to get 10 yards before special teams get sent onto the field.

The defence wasn’t any better, either, continuing the trend that has seen the Elks surrender north of 30 points in all five games so far under new defensive co-ordinator J.C. Sherritt.

B.C. had the ball for 43 minutes Sunday, which is an astonishing 72 per cent of the game clock. You give yourself no chance when that happens.

Now, offensive inefficiency contributes to that, of course, but it comes down to the defence not being able to stop anything. And that makes it hard for Ford to do something when he might as well have paid for a ticket, considering the amount of time he spent watching from the sideline.

And the worst part is, they have an entire bye week to think about things. Make no mistake, there are plenty of fair and hard questions they need to ask when looking themselves in the mirror. Not the least of which goes back 365 days ago, to when Jackson took over.

His win percentage as interim head coach, having gone 7-6, wasn’t good enough, even though he earned the first winning record here since Jason Maas led Edmonton to its last playoff appearance in 2019. If you recall, Maas was fired after bringing the then-Eskimos to the divisional-final round for the third time in his four seasons as head coach. Again, not good enough?

Since then, the three head coaches named in between Maas and Jackson went a combined 11-44 over four years, five if you include the 2020 season that was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Jackson wanted the job, and they didn’t keep him or Simon, who went on to become GM at his alma mater, the University of Maryland, in the Big Ten. Now, under rookie head coach Mark Kilam and GM Ed Hervey, the Elks are 1-4.

That’s a far cry from a run that saw Jackson guide the team to the playoff precipice by winning five of six, coming as close to punching their post-season ticket as they have in years.

But despite showing more oomph than the three previous seasons combined, the club decided not to carry over any of that momentum.

The new owner opted for change over continuity. And in his bid to distance the club, full stop, from its recent past, it’s back to the ol’ drawing board as Elks fans have to endure more growing pains in what feels like an endless cycle of rebuilds.

That being said, as ugly as this first month has been, it doesn’t necessarily mean it was the wrong decision.

Let’s face it, there was never going to be an immediate turnaround this season just because the Elks received a sorely needed infusion of cash following the franchise-saving sale last summer.

Hervey has made no secret of his love for all things Edmonton, and already proved he has what it takes to put together a winner, given his stewardship of the club’s last Grey Cup in 2015. But there is only so much a GM can do in one off-season.

And Kilam and his staff show promise, even if the runway for rookie head coaches is typically longer than a fan base going through a drought like Edmonton’s cares to admit at this point.

At the same time, the Elks can’t simply stay the course after the ship capsizes in a catastrophic loss like that one.

Something’s got to give. And they have a bye week to figure it out.

The Elks don’t have to win every game. But they’d better at least be competitive through it all. Because they sure weren’t on Sunday.

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On X: @GerryModdejonge

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