Former Bisons quarterback valued by Elks

EDMONTON — Des Catellier may have been a young quarterback for the Manitoba Bisons, but Cody Fajardo saw the makings of a future coach.

It was 2019, when Fajardo was with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Catellier attended training camp with the team as part of the CFL QB Internship Program.

“He was one of the only U Sports guys that really came in and knew the whole playbook,” Fajardo, now the starting pivot for the Edmonton Elks, told the Free Press on Thursday.

“He could go in and rep just about any play on offence.”

Catellier, a Calgary native, finished his university career in 2022 as the Bisons’ all-time leader in passing yards (7,721) and touchdowns (51). After graduating, his hometown Calgary Stampeders initially expressed interest in signing him as a player before head coach Dave Dickenson suggested he join his staff as a quality control coach.

Catellier spent two years with the Stampeders, building a strong relationship with Mark Kilam, who coached Calgary’s special teams at the time.

When Edmonton hired Kilam as its head coach in 2025, he brought Catellier along with him.

After a year as a special teams assistant, Catellier is now the Elks’ special teams coach.

“When I got hired here, I wanted to make sure that he came with me so that should tell you all you need to know,” said Kilam.

“Des is a real one… He’s a guy that’s intrinsically motivated. You can give him a little bit of a task and he’ll go above and beyond. When you have guys like that, they gain more responsibility and he’s done a nice job with the responsibility.”

Catellier, 28, always had an interest in coaching, but didn’t expect to reach this level so soon. On Thursday, he was on the field instructing players — some older than him — during the Elks’ walkthrough at Commonwealth Stadium as Edmonton (12-4) made its final preparations for Friday’s game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (8-8).

“It doesn’t matter how old you are, but if you’re helping them get better at their craft, they’ll listen to you,” said Catellier.

“It took some years, especially coaching special teams because I was a quarterback so it wasn’t something I was super comfortable with when I first got in. I wasn’t trying to coach guys hard at first because you’ve got to earn that respect a little bit. Once you earn that respect and they know you know what you’re talking about, then you can coach them hard and they’ll listen to what you have to say.”

Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea has taken notice of Catellier’s rapid rise through the coaching ranks.

“You leave university and a lot of these guys can step into, not all, but a lot of these guys can step into decent jobs, decent careers and so grinding away coaching, probably not getting paid a lot to start, could be a tough decision for guys,” said O’Shea.

“Des has managed to turn this into a career so far and you know, I like talking to him. He’s a good kid and obviously, to me, his approach of working hard, getting in there and grinding has paid off for him and I respect that.”

Kilam developed a special-teams concept in Calgary called the ‘Triangle of Death.’ The idea is to make opposing returners feel like they’re caught in a vice by setting the edges and applying pressure through the middle.

Catellier has fully embraced it. Players who stand out on special teams are rewarded with ‘TOD’ T-shirts.

“The special teams coach has a lot to do with hyping up your team and getting them ready for the battle. When Des comes in and talks, he gets the guys fired up,” said Fajardo.

“Some guys are like ‘I want to be on special teams because I want a shirt!’ It’s hard for guys like me because I’ll never get a shirt.”

Catellier would love to work his way up to becoming a head coach one day, but he isn’t getting ahead of himself. He has a strong mentor in Kilam, as well as retired Bisons head coach Brian Dobie, whom he speaks with frequently.

While he’s back in his home province, Catellier credits his time in the Keystone Province with helping prepare him for life in the pros.

“All the guys there at Manitoba, I love those guys, they’re all my brothers. I wouldn’t change anything about my time there, I loved it,” said Catellier.

“Basically after my first year, I lived there for six, seven years. I love everything about it there.”

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