Things didn’t go exactly the way Mark Kilam was hoping they would in 2025.

In his first year as head coach of the Edmonton Elks, Kilam’s group stumbled to a 1-6 start that put them behind the eight ball the rest of the way. And despite following that with a 6-3 run in late summer and into the fall, the Elks missed the playoffs for a fifth straight season.

But optimism is high in the Alberta capital entering Kilam’s second year.

“I feel like as a team, you know, we figured out who we wanted to be and what our identity was and how to play to that identity toward the back half of the season,” Kilam told CFL.ca at CFL Winter Meetings in Calgary earlier this month.

“We started in a hole, so we were in the chase pack for the majority of the year, but we embraced that mentality. But it’s on us to have a great off-season and training camp so we can start faster this year.”

Here are three reasons Kilam and the Elks are poised to take a step forward in 2026.

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After almost two decades climbing........

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