For an offensive lineman, there is perhaps no greater insult than being called a turnstile. In his introductory press conference as president of the Edmonton Elks, Chris Morris made clear that he doesn’t want his team called one either.
“I promise you, the revolving door is over,” the 56-year-old franchise legend told reporters. “The revolving door that’s existed at every level of this organization, from the president’s office to the players on the field, where you’ve got 10,000 extra lockers in here because at the beginning of the year you’ve got to cut 10 guys after five weeks, after three weeks — that is now over. We will build consistency here so that we can build a sense of family.”
“This will not be a culture of disposable people, where people come and go on a regular basis. We will build continuity here.”
If you were unfamiliar with Morris’ resume before his address, you left knowing exactly who he is. The corporate buzzwords were few and far between as the rugged former blocker spoke with the heartbreak of someone who had watched the team they had bled for crumble into disrepair. Instead, he leaned on more than a decade’s worth of coach speak honed at the University of Alberta, demanding a future built around the pillars of community, passion, integrity, and innovation.
However, what cut through the clearest may have been the language of a former high school principal, chastising previous administrations for their roster management like troublesome teens caught vaping in the bathroom.
“I played here 14 years and we never missed the playoffs. The one year we got in trouble, we had 25 lockers in here and we were running through guys. You cannot win that way in this sport,” Morris insisted. “Football is a tough sport. You need to have people who you can count on. You have to have people who you can rely on. And you cannot have that if you’ve got disposable people coming through your building. We will change that.”
Disposing of people has become something of a specialty for the Elks since their last Grey Cup victory back in 2015. The team has gone through five presidents in that span — Len Rhodes, Chris Presson, and Victor Cui, in addition to interim stints by Allan Watt and Rick LeLacheur — plus five head coaches and four general managers. A long-term franchise quarterback has also evaded them since Michael Reilly’s departure in 2019.
The return of Chris Jones back in 2022 was supposed to spark a turnaround but the Grey Cup winner posted an 8-33 record over two-and-a-quarter seasons as head coach and general manager. While the team found their footing after his firing, finishing 7-11 this season, it did nothing to stop the bleeding at the box office. After years of already sparse crowds at Commonwealth Stadium, attendance fell by 17.3 percent in 2024.
According to Morris, a big part of that drop-off can be traced to Jones’ quick trigger on the transaction wire. In the effort to build a winner, players went out the door at an unprecedented rate, eroding connection to the community and destroying trust within the team.
“I used to go out as a player and people knew who we were. People loved the team. We need to find that as a group again,” he explained. “You can’t do that with a team where three-quarters of it turns over every year. Who are you going to identify with? You tell me another sports franchise that has as much turnover as we’ve had in the last few years — you can’t build that way. That continuity is going to allow our fans to find something that they can connect with, and I think that’s going to go a long way to get things right.”
“I’m so convinced that that’s 85 percent of the problem here. We’re going to address that and that’s going to be the first thing we do.”
Morris’ desire for stability is rooted in his experiences during the franchise’s heyday and he plans to apply it far beyond just the locker room. Much like his time leading the Golden Bears, establishing an organizational culture will come first in order to restore winning tendencies.
“We will build this thing around integrity. When you talk to the Edmonton Elks, you will know that when they say something, it will get done. When it’s hard and when it’s tough and when things aren’t going well, you will be able to count on us to make sure that we did what we said we were going to do,” he said.
“That will radiate through the community and that will radiate through our organization, where people who work here will feel that they will know that they will be looked after. They will know that if they do their job, if they do it our way, the way that we look after each other and the way that we protect each other, that they will be safe here.”
That would be a refreshing change of pace for an organization that still hasn’t recovered fans’ trust after unceremoniously putting legendary equipment manager Dwayne Mandrusiak out to pasture during the pandemic. That was part of what cost Chris Presson his job as president, while his fan-favourite successor Victor Cui parted ways with his childhood team amid whispers of a toxic workplace.
The franchise’s continuing decline led to its sale to a private owner, Larry Thompson, in 2024. It was in the aftermath of that move that interim president Rick LeLacheur invited Morris down for a meeting, specifically requesting that he put his hat in the ring to replace him. The long-time CFL executive, who has known Morris since his playing days, compared the new hire to club architect Hugh Campbell — himself a former player, coach, and teacher.
It’s clear that Morris treasures many of the same core values as the Hall of Famer, though he cautions that restoring the team’s attachment to its roots has as much to do with looking forward as it does looking back.
“Because the ‘Eskimo Way’ is used so many times in so many different ways, I’m going to say this to all of you. We need to use that as a pathway forward, we need to use it as our foundation, but we need innovative people that aren’t going to use that as an excuse to not do something new and inventive” he said, referencing the team’s old moniker.
“We need out-of-the-box thinkers that are going to figure out ways to be better on the field, better in the boardroom, and to get some people in the stands.”
After 12 years patrolling the sideline at Foote Field, this was the only job that would have convinced Morris to leave the U of A. He only accepted the unexpected offer due to the belief that Thompson and his wife, Deb, share the same core values and passion for the team that he does.
Though he lacks traditional business experience, the native of Scarborough, Ont. believes his decades of administrative experience, first at a disadvantaged inner-city school and later operating on a shoestring budget with the Golden Bears, will translate.
“I feel like, almost, in a way, I’m going back to school where I have some weapons to work with, some people I can count on and I can share things,” Morris said of the transition from U Sports. “When you’ve got two assistant coaches and you’re playing against teams who have eight, you can imagine what the workload looks like. You share it a little bit, but you’re doing a whole bunch of things so you’re kind of running the circus.”
“I don’t need to do that here. I need to delegate, I need to talk, I need to share the vision. I need to facilitate other people’s success for this to work.”
Ironically given his emphasis on continuity, the first matter of business Morris has to decide on is the future of interim general manager Geroy Simon. Chris Jones’ right-hand man was complicit in the turnover that tanked the past three seasons but has gone 7-6 alongside interim head coach Jarious Jackson since his boss was fired.
The new man in charge said that both will be strongly considered for their respective roles going forward but that an extensive search for a new GM has begun. A hiring deadline has been set for November 24 to allow candidates competing in the Grey Cup to interview, with whoever is chosen being given the opportunity to select their own coaching staff in adherence with Morris’ core values.
“We owe this city and we owe it to everyone associated with Elks football to find the best football mind to take over our franchise,” Morris vowed.
While fans in Edmonton have been fooled before, first impressions suggest that one of those minds might already be in place.
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