NC State has a new united front with Kurt Roper as the offensive coordinator and D.J. Eliot is the new defensive coordinator.
Riper and Eliot won’t need an introduction — they worked together in 2018 at Colorado. Roper was the quarterbacks coach and Eliot the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
The 48-year-old Eliot replaces the departed Tony Gibson, who became head coach at Marshall. Eliot is just the third defensive coordinator coach Dave Doeren has had, following Gibson and Dave Huxtable, who manned the position from 2013-19.
Eliot has worked for 11 different colleges, and had a one-year stint with the Philadelphia Eagles as a linebackers coach in 2023. The Eagles went 11-6 and lost in the first round to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Former NC State defensive end Kentavius Street played for the Eagles that season.
Eliot helped Baylor as a defensive consultant for head coach Dave Aranda this past fall.
Eliot was a graduate assistant at Wyoming, Houston and Miami (Fla.) from 1999-02. He then became a defensive backs at Texas State for a year, followed by linebackers coach for two years, ending in 2005.
Eliot then coached linebackers for a year at Tulsa in 2006, with the Golden Hurricanes going 8-5 under coach Steve Kragthorpe.
Eliot was then hired by coach David Bailiff at Rice, where he was defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator. The Owls went 15-22, with one great year of going 10-3 sandwiched around two difficult seasons.
Eliot was hired for the start of the Jimbo Fisher era at Florida State as defensive ends coach in 2010. The Seminoles went 31-10 in three years, with a trip to the Orange culminating his time in Tallahassee in 2012.
Eliot got a promotion to make the move to defensive-minded head coach Mark Stoops at Kentucky, when Stoops replaced coach Joker Phillips in 2013. Phillips is now NC State’s wide receivers coach,
UK went 19-30 during Eliot’s stint as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
Colorado was the next stop for Eliot as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2017-18. The Buffaloes under coach Mike MacIntyre went 10-14 during Eliot’s two years.
Eliot joined Kansas ad defensive coordinator in 2019-20, where Les Miles was the coach. The two-year stint resulted in going 3-18 and Miles was fired. The Jayhawks used a 3-4 scheme, with Nate Betts at 6-1 and 204 pounds.
Eliot didn’t coach on the college level in 2021, but then became the defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach in 2022 at Temple. Again, it was start of a new coaching staff and the Owls went 3-9 in Stan Drayton’s first year. Drayton had followed coach Rod Carey, a former assistant coach at Northern Illinois under Doeren.
Eliot last game on the collegiate level as a full-time coach ironically was against East Carolina on Nov. 26, 2022, The Pirates won 49-46 with quarterback Holton Ahlers throwing for 314 yards and three touchdowns, and running back Keaton Mitchell rushing 27 times for 222 yards and three scores, plus two catches for 78 yards and a touchdown.
Temple used a 3-4 defensive scheme, though outside linebacker Muheem McCargo was 5-10 and 205 pounds. Eliot was reportedly paid $527,359 in his lone year at Temple.
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