Football
Eliot, D.J.
vs
Wyoming
Sep 20 (Sat)
TBA
D.J. Eliot
- Title:
- Defensive Coordinator/Outside Linebackers
- Email:
- darin.eliot@colorado.edu
- Phone:
- 303-492-3786
Last updated on July 19, 2018
D.J. Eliot is in his second season as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Colorado, as he joined the Buffalo staff on January 19, 2017. He now overall has 19 years of coaching experience in the collegiate ranks.
Eliot, 41, joined the Colorado staff from the University of Kentucky, where he was the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for four seasons (2013-16). He helped coach UK to the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl, the first postseason appearance for Kentucky since 2010.
In his first game as CU’s D-coordinator, his scheme helped the Buffs defeat Colorado State, 17-3; the Rams had scored 58 points a week earlier against Oregon State. Since the defensive coordinator role evolved in the late 1960s, that tied for the fewest points that CU allowed in the first game of a new DC. And with a 37-3 win over Texas State in week two, the six points were the fourth-fewest the Buffs have allowed in the first two games of a season in the post-World War II Era.
At his previous two coaching stops, Kentucky and Florida State, he coached eight players who were drafted in the National Football League, including two first round picks. Linebacker Bud Dupree was a 2015 first round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the first Kentucky first-rounder in 12 years, and defensive end Bjoern Werner from Florida State, who was selected by Indianapolis in 2013.
(He has coached two conference defensive players of the year and first-team All-Americans, Werner (the 2012 Atlantic Coast winner) and linebacker Nick Bunting at Tulsa, the 2006 Conference USA defensive POY.)
Overall at Kentucky, he coached 11 Wildcats who earned All-SEC recognition and in three of his four years with the school one of his linebackers recorded over 100 tackles in a season. Avery Williams, currently on the Tennessee Titans roster, recorded 102 stops in 2013, Josh Forrest, now with the Los Angeles Rams, posted 110 in 2014, a figure that ranked No. 3 in the SEC that season, while Jordan Jones had 109 in Eliot’s final year with UK (Jones earned second-team All-SEC honors, also logging 14 tackles for loss that included four sacks).
At Kentucky, the Wildcats set a new school record for defensive touchdowns scored in a season with six in 2014; UK recorded 23 takeaways that year. UK jumped 45 places in the total defense rankings from 2013 to 2014 under Eliot, finishing in the top half of the nation in that statistic. In 2015, UK ranked 28th in the FBS in passing defense by giving up only 198.1 yards per game, And in 2016, sophomore safety Mike Edwards finished the regular season leading all SEC defensive backs in tackles (93) while tying for the team lead in interceptions with three, two coming against No. 11 Louisville and Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson in the Cats’ 41-38 victory.
His presence at Florida State helped lead a revival of FSU’s defense. The year prior to his arrival, the Seminoles ranked 108th in total defense and rushing defense. However, by 2012, FSU ranked second nationally in total defense (254.1 yards per game) and sixth in scoring defense (14.7 points per game).
In his three seasons at Florida State (2010-12), the ‘Noles went 31-10 and he helped FSU tie for the national lead in sacks with 48 his first year there. In his second season FSU limited opponents to just 2.35 yards per carry, which led the nation in that category. His defensive ends on the 2012 team, Werner and Cornellius Carradine, combined for and 31 tackles for losses, including 24 sacks, when FSU finished 12-2.
In his second of three seasons at Rice (2007-09), he helped the Owls go 10-3 and win the 2008 Texas Bowl, the programs first bowl win since 1950 and first 10-win season since 1949.
Eliot got his start in coaching along the Rocky Mountain Front Range at his alma mater, Wyoming, as a graduate assistant in 1999. From there he went to the University of Houston as a graduate assistant for two years before landing in a similar position at Miami for the 2002 season; the Hurricanes went 12-0 and were ranked No. 1 at the end of the regular season before falling 31-24 in double overtime to Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game.
He spent two years in Division I-AA (FCS), coaching the linebackers at Texas State University (San Marcos). He helped lead a defensive turnaround (34.8 to 20.3 points per game, as well as 395 to 314 yards allowed). In 2005, the Bobcats went 11-3, reaching the semifinals of the I-AA playoffs.
Eliot lettered at linebacker at the University of Wyoming for coach Dana Dimel and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Natural Science in 1999. He earned his Master’s degree in Education from the University of Houston in 2002.
He was born August 14, 1976 in Stillwater, Okla., and grew up in nearby Edmond, graduating from Edmond Memorial High School, where he lettered in football and basketball. He and his wife, the former Miekel Marsh, have one son, Dawson, and three daughters, Drue, Page and Reace. His favorite hobby outside of football is spending time and playing with his children. His first name is Darin.
AT-A-GLANCE—He has coached in 139 Division I-A (FBS) games as a full-time coach, including six bowl games (2006 Armed Forces, 2008 Texas, 2010 Chick-fil-A, 2011 Champ Sports, 2013 Orange, 2016 TaxSlayer). At Texas State, he coached in 25 Division I-AA (FCS) games, including three playoff contests. As a graduate assistant at three FBS schools, he was involved in 46 additional games and coached in the 2002 Fiesta/BCS National Championship game for Miami against Ohio State.
D.J. Eliot’s Coaching History
NFL Draft Selections Under D.J. Eliot
- 2018 - CB Isaiah Oliver, 2nd Round (58th overall), Atlanta Falcons
- 2016 - OLB Josh Forrest, 6th Round (190th overall), Los Angeles Rams
- 2015 - OLB Bud Dupree, 1st Round (22nd overall), Pittsburgh Steelers
- 2015 - OLB Za'Darius Smith, 4th Round (122nd overall), Baltimore Ravens
- 2014 - LB Avery Williamson, 5th Round (151st overall), Tennessee Titans
- 2013 - DE Bjoern Werner, 1st Round (24th overall), Indianapolis Colts
- 2013 - DE Tank Carradine, 2nd Round (40th overall), San Francisco 49ers
- 2013 - LB Brandon Jenkins, 5th Round (162nd overall), Washington Redskins
- 2011 - DE Markus White, 7th Round (224 overall), Washington Redskins
- 2011 - DE Cheta Ozougwu, 7th Round (254th overall), Houston Texans
- 2012 - DE Scott Solomon, 7th Round (211 overall), Tennessee Titans
- 2008 - LB Chris Chamberlain, 7th Round (228th overall), St. Louis Rams
D.J. Eliot is in his second season as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Colorado, as he joined the Buffalo staff on January 19, 2017. He now overall has 19 years of coaching experience in the collegiate ranks.
Eliot, 41, joined the Colorado staff from the University of Kentucky, where he was the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach for four seasons (2013-16). He helped coach UK to the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl, the first postseason appearance for Kentucky since 2010.
In his first game as CU’s D-coordinator, his scheme helped the Buffs defeat Colorado State, 17-3; the Rams had scored 58 points a week earlier against Oregon State. Since the defensive coordinator role evolved in the late 1960s, that tied for the fewest points that CU allowed in the first game of a new DC. And with a 37-3 win over Texas State in week two, the six points were the fourth-fewest the Buffs have allowed in the first two games of a season in the post-World War II Era.
At his previous two coaching stops, Kentucky and Florida State, he coached eight players who were drafted in the National Football League, including two first round picks. Linebacker Bud Dupree was a 2015 first round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the first Kentucky first-rounder in 12 years, and defensive end Bjoern Werner from Florida State, who was selected by Indianapolis in 2013.
(He has coached two conference defensive players of the year and first-team All-Americans, Werner (the 2012 Atlantic Coast winner) and linebacker Nick Bunting at Tulsa, the 2006 Conference USA defensive POY.)
Overall at Kentucky, he coached 11 Wildcats who earned All-SEC recognition and in three of his four years with the school one of his linebackers recorded over 100 tackles in a season. Avery Williams, currently on the Tennessee Titans roster, recorded 102 stops in 2013, Josh Forrest, now with the Los Angeles Rams, posted 110 in 2014, a figure that ranked No. 3 in the SEC that season, while Jordan Jones had 109 in Eliot’s final year with UK (Jones earned second-team All-SEC honors, also logging 14 tackles for loss that included four sacks).
At Kentucky, the Wildcats set a new school record for defensive touchdowns scored in a season with six in 2014; UK recorded 23 takeaways that year. UK jumped 45 places in the total defense rankings from 2013 to 2014 under Eliot, finishing in the top half of the nation in that statistic. In 2015, UK ranked 28th in the FBS in passing defense by giving up only 198.1 yards per game, And in 2016, sophomore safety Mike Edwards finished the regular season leading all SEC defensive backs in tackles (93) while tying for the team lead in interceptions with three, two coming against No. 11 Louisville and Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson in the Cats’ 41-38 victory.
His presence at Florida State helped lead a revival of FSU’s defense. The year prior to his arrival, the Seminoles ranked 108th in total defense and rushing defense. However, by 2012, FSU ranked second nationally in total defense (254.1 yards per game) and sixth in scoring defense (14.7 points per game).
In his three seasons at Florida State (2010-12), the ‘Noles went 31-10 and he helped FSU tie for the national lead in sacks with 48 his first year there. In his second season FSU limited opponents to just 2.35 yards per carry, which led the nation in that category. His defensive ends on the 2012 team, Werner and Cornellius Carradine, combined for and 31 tackles for losses, including 24 sacks, when FSU finished 12-2.
In his second of three seasons at Rice (2007-09), he helped the Owls go 10-3 and win the 2008 Texas Bowl, the programs first bowl win since 1950 and first 10-win season since 1949.
Eliot got his start in coaching along the Rocky Mountain Front Range at his alma mater, Wyoming, as a graduate assistant in 1999. From there he went to the University of Houston as a graduate assistant for two years before landing in a similar position at Miami for the 2002 season; the Hurricanes went 12-0 and were ranked No. 1 at the end of the regular season before falling 31-24 in double overtime to Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game.
He spent two years in Division I-AA (FCS), coaching the linebackers at Texas State University (San Marcos). He helped lead a defensive turnaround (34.8 to 20.3 points per game, as well as 395 to 314 yards allowed). In 2005, the Bobcats went 11-3, reaching the semifinals of the I-AA playoffs.
Eliot lettered at linebacker at the University of Wyoming for coach Dana Dimel and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Natural Science in 1999. He earned his Master’s degree in Education from the University of Houston in 2002.
He was born August 14, 1976 in Stillwater, Okla., and grew up in nearby Edmond, graduating from Edmond Memorial High School, where he lettered in football and basketball. He and his wife, the former Miekel Marsh, have one son, Dawson, and three daughters, Drue, Page and Reace. His favorite hobby outside of football is spending time and playing with his children. His first name is Darin.
AT-A-GLANCE—He has coached in 139 Division I-A (FBS) games as a full-time coach, including six bowl games (2006 Armed Forces, 2008 Texas, 2010 Chick-fil-A, 2011 Champ Sports, 2013 Orange, 2016 TaxSlayer). At Texas State, he coached in 25 Division I-AA (FCS) games, including three playoff contests. As a graduate assistant at three FBS schools, he was involved in 46 additional games and coached in the 2002 Fiesta/BCS National Championship game for Miami against Ohio State.
D.J. Eliot’s Coaching History
| Year | School | Position | Postseason |
| 2017-Present | Colorado | Defensive Coordinator/Outside Linebackers | |
| 2013-16 | Kentucky | Defensive Coordinatory/Linebackers | 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl (L) |
| 2010-12 | Florida State | Defensive Ends | 2013 Orange Bowl-BCS (W) 2011 Champs Sports Bowl (W) 2010 Chick-fil-A Bowl (W) |
| 2007-09 | Rice | Recruiting Coordinator/Defensive Line | 2008 Texas Bowl (W) |
| 2006 | Tulsa | Linebackers | 2006 Armed Forces Bowl (L) |
| 2003-05 | Texas State | 2004-05 - Linebackers 2003 - Defensive Backs |
2005 NCAA Division I-AA playoffs (2-1 record; reached the semifinals) |
| 2002 | Miami (Fla.) | Graduate Assistant | BCS National Championship Game (L) |
| 2000-01 | Houston | Graduate Assistant | |
| 1999 | Wyoming | Graduate Assistant |
NFL Draft Selections Under D.J. Eliot
- 2018 - CB Isaiah Oliver, 2nd Round (58th overall), Atlanta Falcons
- 2016 - OLB Josh Forrest, 6th Round (190th overall), Los Angeles Rams
- 2015 - OLB Bud Dupree, 1st Round (22nd overall), Pittsburgh Steelers
- 2015 - OLB Za'Darius Smith, 4th Round (122nd overall), Baltimore Ravens
- 2014 - LB Avery Williamson, 5th Round (151st overall), Tennessee Titans
- 2013 - DE Bjoern Werner, 1st Round (24th overall), Indianapolis Colts
- 2013 - DE Tank Carradine, 2nd Round (40th overall), San Francisco 49ers
- 2013 - LB Brandon Jenkins, 5th Round (162nd overall), Washington Redskins
- 2011 - DE Markus White, 7th Round (224 overall), Washington Redskins
- 2011 - DE Cheta Ozougwu, 7th Round (254th overall), Houston Texans
- 2012 - DE Scott Solomon, 7th Round (211 overall), Tennessee Titans
- 2008 - LB Chris Chamberlain, 7th Round (228th overall), St. Louis Rams
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