After starting last season 1-5 with four losses at home, the Elon University football team bounced back and won their last four games. Head coach Tony Trisciani said the team is hoping to carry that momentum into this season.
“I expect us to be highly competitive,” Trisciani said at the Coastal Athletic Association Football Media Day on July 24. “We got a lot of juice, a lot of energy in our building, and these guys are ready to go.”
Trisciani also cited the team’s perseverance in the stretch of wins in the final four games of last season as a reason for why they can execute and find success this year.
“I’m very fortunate that we’ve got a group of players and staff that are resilient. We can bounce back from adversity,” Trisciani said. “The fact that these guys came to work every week and prepared and competed to win the back half of that season speaks volumes to our players, our coaches and just the culture in this building. So, we got a bunch of fighters, and this is a hungry, competitive, highly motivated group.”
Elon will have to adjust to a depletion of talent, however. Not only did the Phoenix lose key offensive weapons Chandler Brayboy ’25, Rushawn Baker ’25 and quarterback Matthew Downing ’25 to graduation, but a number of standouts on defense also left through the transfer portal. The most significant losses to the portal include former All-American safety Caleb Curtain, linebacker Marco Patierno, edge rusher Cazeem Moore and defensive lineman Chuck Nnaeto.
Moore was crucial for Elon’s defense last year — amassing 51 tackles and six sacks and earned Second Team All-CAA recognition. Curtain, a team captain last year, led Elon with 75 tackles and had two interceptions.
However, Trisciani filled in these gaps by adding eight scholarship transfers, including defensive tackle redshirt senior Marcus Mauney from Norfolk State, who racked up 26 tackles and two sacks last season. Another key addition is quarterback transfer redshirt sophomore Marco Lainz, who competed with redshirt freshman Landen Clark for the starting job. Lainz hails from Iowa University, which belongs to the Big Ten, one of the four major conferences in collegiate sports. Lainz’s time at Iowa brings experience to the quarterback room, but Clark ended up starting the first game of the season.
Redshirt senior Jeff Yurk acknowledged the losses the team sustained over the offseason but said he believes the current roster has the weapons to be successful.
“We’ve got the guys to do it this year,” Yurk said at CAA Football Media Day. “We’ve got a young team, explosive offense and a really sound defense and one of the best special teams in the nation. I don’t think there’s any reason why we wouldn’t be able to compete at that level. I think everybody’s bought in for the season.”
Despite some losses to the portal, Elon will be returning a few players that are hoping to build on impressive freshmen campaigns. Sophomore defensive lineman Kahmari Brown was named an honorable mention to the Preseason All-CAA list after a freshman year where he finished second on the team in tackles for loss and sacks.
Sophomore running back TJ Thomas Jr. also had a hot start to his career at Elon last season, earning Freshman All-American honors after having a season where he rushed for 588 yards and five touchdowns. He had three games of at least 100 rushing yards. Injury cut Thomas’ season short, but Trisciani said he has high hopes for both Thomas and Brown this year.
“I expect big jumps from those guys,” Trisciani said. “It’s another year of physical development, another year in our system. So more confident, playing faster, thinking less, developing their skillset.”
Elon additionally saw some coaching changes in the offseason, including the promotion of the inside linebackers coach and defensive run game coordinator to defensive coordinator. The move comes after 2024 defensive coordinator Dovonte Edwards left Elon for a coaching position at Sam Houston State University in Texas. Vance has been with the program since 2022 and redshirt senior Jake Louro said this experience with Elon made the transition easier.
“Having coach Edwards leave was a big blow to our defense, but having coach Vance just come right up from the linebackers was incredible for us,” Louro said. “Having someone new in the mix isn’t always the best, but having someone come up from the ranks really was beneficial for us.”
Elon kicked off the season with a marquee matchup against Power Four opponent Duke University on Aug. 28, losing 45-17. Elon tied the game multiple times and trailed by a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but a 35 point second half from Duke was too much for the Phoenix to overcome.
Triscinai said the key to preparation for a game against an opponent like Duke is to work on avoiding self-inflicted mistakes.
“When you go into those games, you need to be the best version of you,” Trisciani said. “You got to make sure you don’t beat yourself before we can beat Duke. So protect the football, be efficient, limit the explosive plays defensively.”
Trisciani pointed out that they did a good job of stopping the run in last year’s 26-3 loss to Duke, but a couple of mistakes led to the occasional explosive play, which ultimately made the difference. Trisciani said he believes the team’s conditioning is better this year and the team worked on pushing themselves more in the offseason. He said this allows them to avoid running out of gas in games, like against Duke.
Elon followed the loss up with a dominating performance against Davidson College, winning 55-7 in their home opener.
Trisciani said he is confident going into the season and that the team believes in their ability to win games.
“The guys in our locker room right now, they know what we’re capable of, they know that we can win,” Trisciani said. “If we go out and we’re the best version of ourselves and we prepare properly and we execute, then there’s not a game on our schedule that we can’t win.”