New Elks GM Ed Hervey seeks to elevate once-proud CFL club from ‘laughingstock’ status

Ed Hervey promised the turnaround began the second he was hired.

Ed Hervey didn’t hold back when describing the Edmonton Elks team.

“I do not like where the club sits in the CFL, as far as the perception” said Hervey, who on Wednesday was introduced as the team’s new general manager. “I would equate it to laughingstock.”

For a franchise that has not been to the playoffs since 2019, that endured a 22-game home losing streak between 2019 and 2023, that has seen attendance dip to the point where management closed the upper bowl of Commonwealth Stadium, Hervey’s observation is nothing but the brutal truth.

But he promised the turnaround began the second he was hired.

“To the many people I do know, this is take two,” said Hervey. “To the many people I don’t know, you’re going to realize that I’m intense, I’m focused, I’m all about winning. I will do what it takes to win.”

And he put out a public plea to any players who might not consider Edmonton a destination because of the franchise’s recent missteps.

“The water is warm,” he said.

Hervey was the general manager in Edmonton from 2013-16, including a Grey Cup title in 2015. Hervey played eight CFL seasons, all of them in Edmonton green and gold, and won two CFL titles as a player. He has been deeply rooted in Alberta’s football community, and helped lead a summit that would change how minor football programming is offered in the province.