The Edmonton Elks are 0-6 and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are 1-5 this season, sitting at the bottom of the CFL standings.
But both their coaches know what it’s like to be part of groups that went on dark horse runs to glory, and neither has given up on their teams this year.
Edmonton’s Jarious Jackson was a quarterback on the 2011 B.C. Lions team that began the season 0-5 before turning it around and winning the Grey Cup.
Hamilton’s Scott Milanovich was the head coach when the 2012 Toronto Argonauts finished the season with a mediocre 9-9 record but got hot at the right time and claimed the title.
Milanovich is in his first season as head coach of the Ticats. Jackson is in his second week coaching the Elks after they fired Chris Jones amid an 0-5 start to the season.
When the two sides meet Sunday at Commonwealth Stadium, it’s a chance for each to get themselves out of the early holes they’ve dug.
“I just feel like it will break for us sooner than later,” Jackson said of an Elks team that has suffered six straight one-score losses. “We’ve just got to trust the process and stay fighting and keep pushing forward. That’s all that we can do at this point.
“I’ve told the guys how I was on that B.C. team, I know it was a bit of an anomaly, but I was on that 1-6 B.C. team and that year we were able to come back and win the Grey Cup. So, hopefully we can repeat something like that and, at the end of the day, we’re trying to get the culture built, too.”
Edmonton lost 20-14 to Ottawa in Jackson’s first game as head coach. The Elks held the Redblacks to just one touchdown, but couldn’t punch one in themselves.
Jackson expects Edmonton’s defence to come up big again against Hamilton’s offence, led by veteran quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell.
“They have a lot of great weapons, a great scheme, and they’re playing for Scott Milanovich — and he’s one of the best when it comes to the Xs and Os,” Jackson said. “I know they’ll have a very schematic game and I’m expecting our defence to step up again. We just need to start stacking great performances.”
The Ticats beat the Toronto Argos 27-24 last week, breaking a five-game losing skid to start the season. Mitchell threw for 270 yards.
“It brought even more energy,” Milanovich said of the win. “It’s good to see them feel good about themselves, a lot of confidence. They’ve picked it up another notch and hopefully that will show again on Sunday.”
Milanovich added that Mitchell, who appeared in just six games in 2023, is getting better by the week as he’s acclimating to the offensive schemes.
“He’s doing a lot of good things, we’re getting a lot of explosive plays, he’s managing the offence well,” he said. “It takes time. I think the longer we work together, the more he’ll continue to improve and really fit the system, and the system fit him.”
Mitchell spent a decade with the Calgary Stampeders before coming to Hamilton in 2023, so he still gets jacked up when he sees Edmonton on the schedule.
“I just remember in Calgary, people would be like ‘hey, obviously we want to win a Grey Cup, we want to get it done, but just don’t lose to that team in green,’” he said.
Elks defensive back Kai Gray, who had an interception in last week’s loss to Ottawa, said it’s not about Mitchell, but about who he can target down the field.
“It’s about the weapons that he has,” he said. “It’s not more the quarterback, it’s more the weapons. They have Tim White. (Steven Dunbar Jr.) is back over there. We’ve just got to execute our game plan and shut down their primary receivers and force them to run the ball.”
White is a consistent threat, with 1,265 yards receiving in 2022 and 1,269 in 2023. He’s got 351 yards in six games this season. Dunbar, who spent last season in Edmonton, has hauled in 342 passing yards this year.
But Gray said the Elks’ reputation as the close-loss kings of the CFL gives them hope going forward.
“It’s still motivating, because we know how close we are to success,” he said. “We’re no stranger to this feeling, we went 0-9 last year to start off the season, and we’re trying to turn things around and have a different feeling in Commonwealth Stadium.”
RELEASED: The Elks released American lineman Robert Nkemdiche on Wednesday. He was signed in the off-season and was a Game 1 starter for the Elks. Before coming to the CFL, Nkemdiche played 38 NFL games with the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins and Seattle Seahawks.
SPLIT DECISION: The Elks and Ticats faced each other twice last season, with each winning in the other team’s stadium.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2024.