Indiana State University Athletics

David Elson joins the Sycamores following two seasons at Wake Forest after serving the Deamon Deacons as a defensive analyst. He joined WFU after spending the two seasons at Purdue. He was a quality control coach in 2021 and was the Boilermakers linebackers coach in 2022. He comes to Indiana State with 31 years of coaching at the collegiate level.
 
During the 2022 season, the Boilermakers turned over opponents 21 times, ranking 38th nationally while Purdue also ranked 12th nationally in defensive touchdowns, totaling three in 2022. The Boilermakers won the Big 10 West Division for the first time in school history last fall.
 
Elson, who is a former head coach at Western Kentucky (2003-09), spent the 2020 season as the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Marion University in Indianapolis.
 
Prior to his lone season at Marion, Elson spent three years (2017-19) at Ball State as the Cardinals' defensive coordinator. BSU led the Mid-American Conference in interceptions (15) and turnovers gained (24) during his final season in Muncie. Both stats cracked the top 15 nationally.
 
Elson has served as the defensive coordinator at a number of stops during his coaching career, including: Western Illinois, Southern Illinois, New Mexico State and WKU. He also spent one season as a defensive quality control staffer at Indiana.
 
With Elson calling the defense throughout the 2002 season, Western Kentucky captured the Football Championship Subdivision National Championship. Two years later, he was a finalist for the 2004 Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year Award as the Hilltoppers' head coach.
 
Elson earned his master's degree from Southern Illinois 1995 while serving as a graduate assistant in his first coaching job before joining the Western Kentucky staff as an assistant coach in the 1996 season.
 
He graduated from Butler in 1994 with this bachelor's degree after being a three-year letter winner and two-year starter at safety. He helped the Bulldogs win their conference championship in 1991 and 1992 and advance to the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1992.