‘I’m going to f***ing bring it in Edmonton’: Elks’ Mark Kilam puts CFL on notice

Photo courtesy: Edmonton Elks

Edmonton Elks’ head coach Mark Kilam has put the CFL on notice, especially the Calgary Stampeders.

The 45-year-old native of Lethbridge, Alta. was asked why he was deemed one of the fall guys in Cowtown last season before going on to become the bench boss with the Stamps’ fiercest rival after his departure from the team.

“You have to ask the people that made the decision in Calgary, that’s out of my control. I can tell you I’m going to f***ing bring it in Edmonton — I can tell you that right now. You can print that,” Kilam said from the league’s winter meetings in Charlotte, N.C.

Dave Dickenson parted ways with Kilam on Oct. 30, exactly one month before he was hired by the Green and Gold on Nov. 30. Kilam originally joined the Stampeders in 2005 as the team’s strength and conditioning coach and a defensive assistant before eventually working his way up to assistant head coach and special teams coordinator from 2019 to 2024.

“You feel a lot of things — 20 years is 20 years — you have roots in the city. You understand it’s a professional sport and I understood I was not the norm being in one place for 20 years,” Kilam said.

“I’m an optimist and I felt that one door closes, another window opens. I felt like there were good things that were going to come from that change and I had to find them — I think I have.”

Kilam was part of three Grey Cup championship teams during his tenure in Calgary: 2008, 2014, and 2018. He’s now aiming to bring a CFL title to Edmonton for the first time since 2015.

Justin Dunk
Justin Dunk is a football insider, sports reporter and anchor.