Report: Edmonton Elks have reached out to Chris Jones

Photo courtesy: Edmonton Elks

The Edmonton Elks might be looking to their past to fill their current vacancies.

TSN’s Dave Naylor reports the Elks have reached out to former Edmonton head coach and current Toronto Argonauts defensive coordinator Chris Jones.

Edmonton is looking to hire a new head coach and general manager after they let go Jaime Elizondo and Brock Sunderland along with president Chris Presson follow a 3-11 season that saw them finish last in the West Division.

Jones’ first head coaching job came in 2014 with Edmonton where he helped guide the Green and Gold to a Grey Cup championship in 2015 after a 14-4 regular season. Jones would go on to become the head coach and general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders the following season before taking a job as a defensive assistant with the Cleveland Browns in 2019.

The Tennessee native is a four-time Grey Cup champion (2002, 2008, 2012, 2015) and was he was named the CFL’s Coach of the Year after guiding the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a 12-6 season in 2018.

Jones made his CFL coaching debut in 2002 with the Montreal Alouettes, winning his first championship, and would coach six total years (2002-07) as defensive line coach and defensive coordinator for the Quebec team.