Elon Football 2026 Season Tracker Updated With Schedule, Roster Moves

Coming off a 6-6 season that left the program searching for more, Elon football has spent the winter months methodically rebuilding its coaching staff and replenishing the roster ahead of a 2026 Colonial Athletic Association campaign that begins taking shape on the practice field this spring. The Phoenix added three defensive staff members, finalized a 14-player roster class, and set a spring practice window that runs from April 6 through May 2.

Spring Practice Window

Elon will start spring drills a little later than most other Division I teams in the state. The Phoenix will begin spring practice April 6 and will conclude May 2, giving head coach Tony Trisciani roughly four weeks to evaluate a rebuilt roster before the offseason quiets down for the summer. The program has not announced an official spring game but will hold scrimmages on April 18, April 25 and May 2, offering three structured evaluation points across the spring window. A spring football practice schedule graphic released by the program is credited to Elon athletics and outlines the full April-to-May calendar for the Phoenix.

Coaching Staff Overhaul

Three defensive assistants joined the Elon staff between early January and late January, each arriving with direct FCS experience and, notably, a shared connection to Virginia Military Institute.

Jalen Hairston was the first hire of the cycle, brought on January 7 as cornerbacks coach. The source material does not include Hairston's prior biographical detail beyond the hire itself, but his arrival signals Elon's intent to invest early in the secondary.

Two weeks later, on January 21, Tony Trisciani announced the hiring of JB Lageman as the Phoenix's defensive line coach. Lageman joins the program after four seasons at VMI, where he served as defensive line coach and run-game coordinator and helped develop multiple All-SoCon defensive linemen. That track record of producing conference-caliber talent at the position makes Lageman one of the more credentialed additions to the 2026 staff.

Eight days after Lageman's hire, on January 29, Trisciani announced the hiring of Patrick Brown as the program's secondary and SPURs coach. Brown arrives after three seasons at VMI, where he coached the secondary and coordinated the defensive passing game for the Keydets. The overlap with Lageman's VMI tenure suggests Trisciani deliberately targeted a defensive coaching bloc he knew and trusted. Brown is referenced in later tracker entries under the shorter name "Pat Brown," though the formal Elon announcement dated January 29 uses "Patrick Brown" throughout.

The concentration of VMI experience across the new defensive staff is worth noting: Lageman spent four years there developing linemen, Brown spent three years there running the secondary, and linebacker transfer Derek Hite (detailed below) came directly from the same program. Whether by design or coincidence, Elon now has significant institutional knowledge of VMI's football operation embedded in its own building.

Roster Moves: Transfers and Freshmen

Elon finalized its 2026 roster on February 7, after signing day and portal additions closed out the class. The program announced the addition of six collegiate transfers and eight incoming freshmen to the 2026 spring football roster, bringing a combined 14 new faces into the program before spring drills open.

Three transfers stand out from the class as explicitly highlighted in the program's announcements:

• Quarterback Brady Stober arrives from Samford by way of Hickory High, where he was a two-time conference player of the year and accumulated more than 9,000 passing yards during his prep career. His addition gives Elon a signal-caller with substantial pre-college production and FCS transfer experience.

• Linebacker Derek Hite transfers from VMI, where he earned All-SoCon freshman honors and was named a 4th-team Phil Steele Freshman All-American. Hite's arrival connects directly to the program's new defensive staff, given that new line coach Lageman and secondary coach Brown both spent time at VMI during periods that overlap with Hite's tenure there.

• Offensive lineman Gabe Navaro comes from North Carolina A&T, where he started 10 games at left tackle in 2025. Immediate starting experience at the FCS level makes Navaro one of the most plug-in-ready additions in the class.

The full class of six transfers includes three additional names not detailed in the available announcements, and the eight incoming freshmen round out a class built through both the portal and traditional recruiting. Elon's official February 7 release carries the complete list.

Season Context and What to Watch

The 2025 season ended at 6-6, a record that sits at the program's equilibrium point: competitive enough to stay relevant in CAA play but short of the postseason breakthrough Trisciani's program is working toward. That context frames everything the program has done this offseason. The staff restructuring on defense, the portal additions along the line and at linebacker, and the quarterback upgrade through Stober all point toward a team trying to push past the .500 ceiling.

The 2026 regular-season schedule, including CAA opponents and nonconference matchups, is not yet detailed in the available excerpts from the tracker. What is confirmed is the spring evaluation calendar: three scrimmages across the final three weeks of the spring window, with coaches getting their first extended look at how Stober fits the offense and how Hite and the rebuilt defensive front integrate under Lageman's system.

The NCFootballNews season tracker, updated March 18, 2026, functions as a living hub consolidating Elon Phoenix news, roster moves, schedule and season outlook ahead of the 2026 CAA campaign. As the spring window approaches and the regular-season schedule firms up, that tracker will be the aggregation point for the program's full 2026 arc. For now, April 6 is the date that matters most in Burlington.