Ed Hervey once oversaw a championship turnaround in Edmonton. Can he do it again?

EDMONTON — Can lightning strike twice for Ed Hervey and the Edmonton Elks?

In his first stint as the then-named Eskimos general manager, Hervey took over a 4-14 team and in two seasons helped turn it into a 14-4 team that won Edmonton’s last Grey Cup in 2015.

In his second stint as GM, the former CFL all-star receiver assumed control of a team that had missed the playoffs for six straight years. Two seasons later, the club is first in the CFL West Division and waiting to host the 2026 division final.

Other major changes contributed to the turnaround, including the sale of the team to Larry and Deb Thompson and the hiring of Chris Morris as president and Mark Kilam as head coach.

Hervey, who spent his entire eight-year CFL playing career with Edmonton and considers the city home, says credit has to be shared.

“There was a lot of heavy lifting done by a lot of people who don’t get mentioned,” he says. “There’s so many names. But the fact is that when you have buy-in and there’s alignment in the organization … good things can happen.”

A year after guiding Edmonton to the Grey Cup, Hervey was fired in the spring of 2017 for what then-president Len Rhodes said was “philosophical differences” and stubborn contract negotiations.

So why would Hervey, who spent time with the B.C. Lions and Hamilton Tiger-Cats after his dismissal, return to Edmonton in November 2024?

“First, they wanted me back,” he says. “It’s home. I’m an EE alumnus and those of us who have played here, built a career here and the club has given us an opportunity to do things for our families … there’s a place in our hearts for the organization.

“The biggest part for me was having Chris here, knowing that I can actually do my job with someone I can actually trust in the president’s chair and who’s going to have the same interest in seeing the football team do well.

“The team should be the priority, not our own individual personal goals and I think the last time I was here there was a lot of that.”

Now, he says, everyone is committed to the same goal: to build a team that can be competitive and be a part of the community.

Beyond the management changes, Hervey says the roster and the player experience needed an overhaul — everything from the quality of the food, to the inconsistency of travel, to how the players were treated.

“There were a lot of things that needed to be fixed with respect to the player experience and for the players to feel good about playing here and wanting to come here.”

With only 17 players still on the roster from 2024, Hervey says he wants players ready to not only play in Edmonton but embrace the community and the arduous work needed to be successful.

“You have to embrace putting the ego at the door and coming out here and working hard for one another,” he says. “Our players are always on time, our players are not missing curfew. Our players are supporting one another, they’re holding each other accountable. They’re doing all the things that good teams do on the path of trying to achieve greatness.

“We’re not letting just anyone into the building. We want to get back to the standard of being the flagship franchise that this place once held so proudly … and we feel that we have the opportunity to do that.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2026.

John Korobanik, The Canadian Press