Ilnicki hopes to show he’s a Hec of a running back
Canadian university standout ready to do dirty work to win job with Redblacks
When the Ottawa Redblacks released Ed Ilnicki in training camp a year ago, he didn’t spend long wondering about the whys. Instead, he got to work preparing for his final U Sports season at the University of Alberta.
Hard to argue with the results or Ilnicki’s resolve — he ran around and over people to the tune of 1,468 rushing yards, a Canada West single-season record. For his amazing season, he was awarded the Hec Crighton Trophy, given to the best player in Canadian university football. Pretty impressive for a seventh-round draft pick in 2017.
“I understand, it was a business decision,” said Ilnicki, who was in Ottawa for the Redblacks’ threeday mini-camp this week. “For me, it was ‘OK, that’s the end of this opportunity, I’m not going to dwell on it. I get the chance to go back, take what I learned and jump right back into it.’ I was very motivated as soon as I landed in Edmonton to work on what we were trying to do and enjoy my last year there — take everything I’ve learned and try to excel to be the best football player I can be.
“Nobody wants to be the one that doesn’t get picked. You have a bit of a chip on your shoulder. You come back and you’re motivated. I wasn’t heavily recruited out of high school, that was a bit of a chip on my shoulder, and I was cut from a provincial team. Everybody faces challenges, everybody has similar stories — it helps breed the best football players and best competitors.”
With that said, when the Redblacks got him under contract earlier this year, Ilnicki, from Spruce Grove, Alta., pushed ahead — this time with an idea what to expect in a CFL training camp.
“I tried to tell myself to just enjoy it and have fun,” said Ilnicki. “But it was hard, being a young kid moving away from home for the first time, jumping into football and all the new things here. It overwhelmed me a bit. Being a year older and having a camp under my belt will help me big time.
“You start hearing all the playbook calls again, the formations, that kind of thing — it comes a little faster. That’s going to allow me to go on the field and know exactly what I’m doing, I’m not guessing. Last year, I’d gotten there by the end of camp. You’re at 90 per cent speed because you’re a bit hesitant. Now it’s full bore, go out, have fun and enjoy every single rep. I think that’s the ultimate freedom of it — when you know the playbook that well, you can just go out and have fun.”
While Ilnicki, at 5-foot-10 and 220 pounds, may not be the fastest, he’s got intangibles that should translate to the next level.
“My vision was something that I knew what I was doing out on the field,” he said. “I’m not going to run around every single person on the field every play. But when I get my chance, I’m going to take the ball downhill and make people pay for it.”
Ilnicki knows what’s expected of most Canadians in the CFL, at least initially — special teams.
“The best Canadian football players are able to play all over the field,” he said. “They’re able to do stuff and special teams and they work their butts off. I want to go out and perform at the best level I can because so few guys get the chance to even be here. So if I’m going to run down on a kickoff, I’ll do whatever the coaches are asking of me. I’ll give it 110 per cent every rep, it doesn’t matter what spot that’s in.”
Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins said: “For him, the challenge will be showing what he can do as a special teamer, not something he’s had to do a whole lot of in the last little while. That’s how he’s going to be able to carve out a spot on the roster, kind of like Kienan Lafrance did — being a guy who’s on the roster because we know he can get us through a game if we need him to.”
Ilnicki looks up to Andrew Harris and Lafrance — running backs who came into the league and proved they could do much more than just special teams.
“Those are guys who took advantage of their opportunities when it came to them,” he said. “They learned the game, they know how to play across the field. They’re great running backs. They developed into great receivers and they know how to play on special teams. That’s super motivating to see. You look at the paths they ’ve taken and you say, ‘That’s what I want to accomplish.’”
Asked if Ilnicki has the skills to be a running back in the CFL, Desjardins said: “I think so, otherwise I don’t think he would be here. There’s competition — there’s (Brendan) Gillanders, there’s (Wayne) Moore, there are other Canadians ... plus who do we pick in the draft? He’s got as good a chance as any of them.”