There has been a lot of chatter — much of it negative — about how the transfer portal and NIL have fundamentally changed college football, especially within the FCS ranks.
Tony Trisciani’s Elon program has been navigating those choppy, uncertain waters well.
Building on three straight winning seasons, the Phoenix will return one of the most experienced lineups in the CAA — 15 starters in all (7 offense, 8 defense). Yes, the program lost several 2023 standouts to the portal and FBS programs, yet the roster remains stable and familiar to fans who followed the team a year ago.
And this group looks skilled enough to make a run at the top of the CAA and a return to the FCS playoffs.
“We are a developmental program. We’re committed to recruiting the right high school kids and developing them,” Trisciani told NC Football News earlier this summer. “We’re also very sensitive. When we do take transfers, we usually look for the older kid who has experience. I don’t want our younger players to feel like we’re just sliding transfers in over their head.”
Elon came out of the spring portal season with only eight full-scholarship transfers on its roster, the coach said. The Phoenix had six a year ago. That’s closer to a Dabo Swinney approach to roster-building (high-school focused) than Deion Sanders (complete overhaul through the portal)
“That’s one of the lowest numbers (of transfers) in Division I football,” Trisciani said. “We want to protect the culture of the program. We want to be able to recruit the right high school kids and keep them.”
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The quarterback position is a great example of the Elon way. The Phoenix brought in a veteran transfer last season, Matthew Downing, who had played at Louisiana Tech, Georgia and TCU, to replace Matthew McKay. Downing joined the QB room with recent signee Will Lankford and won the starting job.
Downing caught fire as the season progressed, averaging 294 yards per game in passing over the last four games, with 12 touchdowns and no interceptions. His return for 2024 was in question, though, as the school appealed to the NCAA for a seventh year of eligibility. The NCAA eventually granted the appeal but well after the December signing day.
“We had to sweat that out,” Trisciani said. “We did not find out until late January.”
In the meantime, the Phoenix added transfer quarterback Jack Salopek (R-Jr.) from Western Michigan, another veteran with starting experience. Elon began fall camp earlier this month with five QBs on the roster, including Lankford (R-So.), Tanner Staton (R-Fr.) and Landen Clark (Fr.). Each school year covered. No player feeling bumped out of their chance to at least compete.
It might have seemed time to panic when some of Elon’s top talent from 2023 hit the portal — running back Jalen Hampton ending up at Western Kentucky, tight end Johncarlos Miller to Texas Tech, defensive back Jaidyn Denis to Memphis, offensive lineman Caleb Krings to Duke. But the Phoenix have been able to absorb the losses by bringing in selective transfers to fill those holes, often from the same year as the outgoing player.
Rushawn Baker comes in from Bucknell at running back with one year of eligibility left. Elon adds Khalil Baker from North Carolina Central and Brock Foster from SMU at defensive back. Tyler Devera is a redshirt-senior tight end from New Mexico State.
“We don’t want to bury our younger players,” Trisciani said. “We’re very respectful of our players that way.”
In one case, a player transferred back to Elon after departing. Punter Jeff Yurk had one of the best punting averages in FCS before heading to Pitt in 2023. He has since returned, replacing a punter who transferred to Richmond.
Rushawn Baker, a bruising back at 6-0, 225, played 30 games for Bucknell. He rushed for 1,359 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s the only senior in the running back room.
Khalil Baker earned All-America honors at NCCU in 2022, also nabbing the Aeneas Williams Award, representing the best defensive back in HBCU football. He is one of only three seniors/redshirt seniors among the more than 20 defensive backs.
Devera, like Miller was, has great athleticism, Trisciani said. Like Miller did a year ago, he’ll compliment Cody Hardy, who is more of a “bully” (6-5, 271) at the tight end position, the coach said. Elon often uses two tight-end sets.
Trisciani also is proud that Elon has become a destination for North Carolina high school players. A check of the 2024 roster posted on the school’s Web site reveals roughly 50 players with North Carolina hometowns. That is an emphasis in recruiting, keeping NC kids home (the Phoenix already have five commitments from Class of 2025 players from North Carolina high schools).
As for those who transferred out? Trisciani understands the landscape, that it’s hard to turn down an FBS opportunity, especially in a Power 4 conference. He gives outgoing players his blessing, with one caveat:
“I’m okay if they earn those opportunities to go play at a higher level — and they graduate with an Elon degree,” the coach said. “We’ll support them with that. We just want them to get that degree first.”
Elon will kick off the new season Friday, Aug. 30 at Duke. The Phoenix play a challenging non-conference slate that also includes North Carolina Central (preseason favorite in the MEAC) and Western Carolina (preseason top 25).
Trisciani’s team was picked sixth in the CAA. That may seem low for a contender, but the conference has 16 teams and four of the schools picked ahead of Elon — Villanova, Richmond, UAlbany and William & Mary — made the FCS preseason Top 25. The fifth team, Delaware, is off to the FBS ranks in 2025. Elon was one of the top vote-getters among schools not making the Top 25.
The Phoenix have their work cut out for them to make the FCS playoffs. But Elon has been something of a giant killer in recent years under Trisciani. The Phoenix upset William & Mary and Delaware last season when both opponents held a No. 5 national ranking at the time. The 2022 squad, which finished 8-4 and made the post-season, knocked off a No. 14 William & Mary team and then No. 17 Richmond in back-to-back weeks.
Don’t count Elon out of the CAA race by any stretch. Delaware will not be eligible for the post-season this year due to its impending move to FBS.
“Our goals as a program are to win the CAA, return to the FCS playoffs and advance and compete for a national championship. That’s what we want as a program,” Trisciani said.
“But when you go into a year like this where you return some guys and return experience, we have to do a good job as a staff and as a program of not getting ahead of ourselves. Focus on the process and being process-driven. One day at a time, one game at a time. We want to win one game a week.
“That’s our plan and that’s how we have to attack it. Before we even get to games and preseason, we need to focus on Elon. We need to be good at being us.”
