J.C. Sherritt credits attention to detail for Edmonton Elks’ defensive turnaround

Photo: Edmonton Elks/Dale MacMillan

To say the Edmonton Elks struggled on defence through the first five regular-season games of 2025 would be an understatement.

The unit allowed at least 30 points in all five matchups amid a 1-4 start, ranking bottom-two league-wide in many key statistical categories, including points allowed, net yards allowed, yards allowed per play, passing yards allowed, sacks, opponent completion percentage, and takeaways.

Yikes.

After a bye in Week 7, however, the tide started to turn under first-year defensive coordinator J.C. Sherritt.

“I think it was both the players and coaches just understanding the importance of the small details. It’s cliché, but doing the little things matters,” Sherritt recently told 3DownNation. “We didn’t change the playbook, we didn’t change the calls. We just dove into understanding and our players really took ownership of understanding the details.”

The Elks allowed fewer than 30 points in each of their next seven games, helping the club go 4-3 to reignite their playoff hopes. The defence gave up only 339.3 net yards per game over this stretch — an improvement of over 100 yards from its first five games.

By the end of the season, Edmonton’s defence ranked fifth in points allowed. The unit’s improvement was one of the main reasons the team remained in playoff contention until Week 20.

Being a first-year defensive coordinator brought some challenges for Sherritt, who expects new obstacles to arise each year he remains in the role.

“I think until I’m done coaching, there’s going to be constant learning experiences that happen, and there were all the way to the end,” he said. “Even when we were playing good, there was still those lessons being learned by myself, our staff, our players. It’s just making sure you learn the right way and correct and improve. There’s no question, there was (some unexpected challenges) and there will continue to be.”

The Elks spent heavily in free agency last year to recruit players like Robbie Smith, Jake Ceresna, Brandon Barlow, and Tyrell Ford. Oddly, it was many of the young, previously unknown players who helped turn things around on defence.

Joel Dublanko, the first-overall pick in the 2024 CFL Draft, took over the starting job at middle linebacker in Week 9 and never looked back, finishing the season as the team’s leader in defensive tackles. Other young players who stepped into significant roles include linebacker Brock Mogensen, strong-side linebacker Kenneth Logan Jr., safety Chelen Garnes, and boundary cornerback J.J. Ross.

“I’m supremely excited (about our young defenders) — the work they put in, they earned those plays that they made — and not just them, but how much we have coming back as a group. At the same time, we understand it’s a brand new year. Whether we had momentum or not, you start from square one all over again, so really looking forward to working with them because the group is a joy to be around and work with, and that’s not always the case in football where you love everybody you’re working with. We have that right now, and we have to capitalize off it,” said Sherritt.

“(In our preparation for 2026), we’re not going over playbook — we’re detailing out the drawings we already have and making those better, so we’re ahead of schedule from where we were last year. The continuity is something that is as valuable as anything in this league, so we’re trying to capitalize on all of us being in-house and making sure that urgency is there.”

The 37-year-old native of Truckee, Calif. lives in Edmonton year-round. He spent eight seasons with the team as a vaunted linebacker, winning the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player award in 2012, and remembers the days when 35,000 fans regularly attended Commonwealth Stadium. With the Elks on an apparent upswing after some dire years, Sherritt is hopeful the team can hit the ground running this year.

“It feels great and we have the momentum, but it’s on us now to capitalize off it. There’s also a sense of urgency at the same time. Like I said, I enjoy walking into the building and who I’m working with, we have that momentum, but it’s time now. We have to go win games.”

The Edmonton Elks were one of the CFL’s most active teams in free agency with key signings including quarterback Taylor Powell, receivers Austin Mack and Joe Robustelli, offensive lineman Coulter Woodmansey, and defensive lineman Malik Carney. The team’s main departures included quarterback Tre Ford (Hamilton Tiger-Cats), receiver Kurleigh Gittens Jr. (Hamilton Tiger-Cats), and defensive lineman Jake Ceresna (Winnipeg Blue Bombers).

The Elks hold the third overall pick in the 2026 CFL Draft, which is scheduled for Tuesday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m. EDT. All CFL training camps are scheduled to open on May 10. Edmonton will play its first preseason game against the B.C. Lions on Saturday, May 23 and its first regular-season game against the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday, June 6.

In 2025, Edmonton finished fifth in the West Division standings with a 7-11 record, missing the playoffs for the fifth straight season.