Elon took the field for its 2026 spring game Saturday at Rhodes Stadium with a new-look roster and several key questions to answer. The biggest — the quarterback position — may already be coming into focus.
Here are five takeaways after watching the action for a couple of hours and talking with head coach Tony Trisciani after the spirited scrimmage session:
1. Samford transfer Brady Stober emerging as likely QB1
All signs point to transfer quarterback Brady Stober winning the starting quarterback job.
The former Hickory High standout threw for more than 9,000 yards and recorded 106 touchdowns during his prep career, leading the Red Tornadoes to a state championship in 2023. He committed to Samford out of high school and played in nearly every game a year ago as a true freshman.
Trisciani said Elon staff recruited Stober “as hard as we could” in high school and was glad to land him out of the portal.
Stober completed a roughly 60-yard pass to Kenaz McMillian on the first play of Saturday’s spring game, then handed off to Dan Frederick for a short-yardage TD on the next snap.
While his day was done after that – by design – he did enough this spring to be considered the front-runner to replace Landen Clark (transferred to LSU) heading into summer.
“He’s still a freshman but did a great job of picking up what we’re doing here,” Trisciani said. “If you’ve been to any of our practices, you’ll see he’s really been an efficient quarterback. I’m excited to see his success and growth there.”
The Phoenix have four QBs on the roster this spring, including true freshman Tanner Payne (West Carteret HS), sophomore Elijah Guttman (Cincinnati Country Day) and redshirt junior TJ Crews IV (Kansas transfer). Guttman and Payne got the most reps with the No. 1s and No. 2s on Saturday.
🔥 Elon football held its spring game today at Rhodes Stadium. Here's a thread of some of our favorite images: 🧵
1. Final play during an OT segment – jump ball
2. Defense gangs up to make a tackle for loss
3. QB Brady Stober (former Hickory High state champ) warms up pic.twitter.com/XQFs6kCQqR — NC Football News (@NCFootballNews) May 3, 2026
2. Defense proved disruptive all day
Elon was one of the rare teams that allowed its defense to hit the quarterback during live drills this spring. Multiple Phoenix quarterbacks felt the heat on Saturday – sacks, forced fumbles (one recovered by Duke transfer Carter Wyatt), an interception in the end zone during a two-minute drill (Wisconsin transfer Remington Moss).
While coaches never like to see the offense turn the ball over or commit miscues, Trisciani could take solace in the fact that his defense showed signs of being chaos-creators once again.
“Our inside guys are disruptive,” Trisciani said. “Chaz Knox, Rashad Reid, Rylan Shibley are very, very disruptive inside.”
With more reps together, the defensive backfield looks promising as well, he said.
“We’re talented enough back there. We’ll have guys that can run with people and we’ll play physical, run and hit on that back end. We just need a little bit more time to get us where we need to be.”
3. Young receivers flash playmaking ability
Even with key departures at wide receiver, Elon showed signs of renewed depth at the position.
- Alex Voss made one of the plays of the day with an acrobatic, one-handed catch near the goal line.
- Jaedon Alford got behind the defense and added a late touchdown reception on a post route.
- McMillian’s speed showed up early on the deep ball
- Zimere Winston battled for receptions in traffic
- Will Lankford, who played at quarterback last season, has moved back to receiver and gives the Phoenix a 6-3 target.
“You saw some big catches today,” Trisciani said. “You saw some separation down the field on the deep ball. You saw some contested catches … That’s big for us.”
4. True freshman Xavier Porter: ‘Our receivers hate going up against him’
One of the prizes of Elon’s 2026 high school recruiting class is defensive back Xavier “Too Tall” Porter, who played the past two seasons at West Charlotte. Porter, who stands 6-4, enrolled at Elon early and could contend for significant snaps this fall if he continues to mature.
“He was a great get for us out of Charlotte,” Trisciani said. “Our receivers hate going up against him. He’s really tough at the line of scrimmage because he’s long and he can run. He can get his hands on you.”
5. The transfer portal taketh … and giveth back
Elon watched a significant amount of 2025 production – from the offense and defense – hit the portal in the off-season. Multiple players parlayed all-conference seasons into opportunities at the Power 4 FBS level. Consider:
- QB Landen Clark → LSU
- DB Brycen Scott → Louisville
- DL Kahmari Brown → Iowa
- RB TJ Thomas → Minnesota
- WR Isaiah Fuhrmann → Georgia Tech
Those could be debilitating departures for some programs (and they weren’t the only key players to transfer). But Elon used the portal and high school recruiting selectively to fill as many holes as possible.
The Phoenix added 14 new players to the spring roster, including Moss from Wisconsin, Stober from Samford, linebacker Derek Hite from VMI and defensive backer Nick Jones from Hampton.
Trisciani continues to lean into his vision for Elon as a developmental program, and the recent pipeline to FBS programs bears that out.
“We lost 10 starters,” Trisciani said, “but we brought in eight high school kids early in January for the spring semester, and we brought five transfers in. So that’s 13 new faces to make sure we have the guys for the spring to develop them.
“I’d rather bring eight high school kids and five transfers than 15-20 transfers.”
What’s next for Elon
Elon is one of the last Division I schools to wrap up spring ball. With no spring portal window to fret about this year, the Phoenix can get ready for fall camp in a few months knowing a solid foundation is already in place and young players have gotten reps in the system.
A handful of players need to heal up from spring injuries, Trisciani said, including wideout Landyn Backey.
Elon has one of the most intriguing 2026 schedules in the state. The Phoenix play a Division II opponent, Glenville State, in their season opener in late August. There is a long-distance trip to Stanford in October, plus other non-conference games against Davidson, Sacred Heart and Wofford.
The CAA will look a bit different this fall, with upper division contenders William & Mary and Villanova joining former conference rival Richmond in the Patriot League. Elon’s first league game will be against the reigning champs, Rhode Island, on the road on Sept. 12.
Elon has won at least six games every year since coming out of the pandemic, including an 8-4 campaign with a playoff berth in 2022.
The Phoenix enter 2026 in a transition phase, replacing key contributors on both sides of the ball. But with Brady Stober emerging at quarterback, a disruptive defensive front and a wave of young talent gaining experience, Elon should be in prime position to reach or exceed that milestone again.
More Elon and North Carolina FCS Content
👉 View Elon’s full 2026 football schedule: Check dates and opponents for the upcoming season
👉 FCS Transfer Tracker:See which players are coming to and leaving North Carolina FCS programs like Elon, Campbell, NC A&T and more.
