ELON, N.C. – Elon University head football coach Tony Trisciani announced the addition of Seth Payne to his coaching staff on Tuesday, March 12. Payne joins Elon from Texas A&M and will serve as the team's defensive line coach.

Seth Payne – Defensive Line
Payne joins the Phoenix after a brief stint working as a defensive analyst under Mike Elko and Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M. He spent the 2018 season as the defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at VMI and was in charge of recruiting large parts of the state of Virginia as well as New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 
 
Prior to his stop at VMI, Payne spent three seasons as a graduate assistant with the defensive line at Wake Forest, working for Elko and head coach Dave Clawson. Before joining Wake Forest, Payne served as a defensive assistant at Villanova when Trisciani was the defensive backs coach and Elon defensive coordinator Billy Crocker served as Villanova's defensive coordinator. Ahead of that, Payne served multiple positions at Moravian College, including defensive line, linebackers and video coordinator across different parts of two seasons in 2012 and 2013.
 
 A graduate of Moravian, Payne was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was a four-year member of the football team from 2008-11, earning All-Centennial Conference honors twice while serving as team captain in 2011. He graduated in 2012 with a degree in Accounting before going on to earn his Masters in Liberal Arts at Wake Forest in 2017.
 
Trisciani on Payne: "Seth Payne is a talented football coach who is highly organized, detail oriented and a great communicator. He takes pride in his ability to teach both the fundamentals and advanced techniques that are critically important on the defensive line. Seth is familiar with our 3-3-5 scheme from his time with Billy Crocker and I at Villanova, and he has experience recruiting in the Carolinas and Virginia from his time at Wake Forrest and VMI."
 
Elon Football Coaching Staff (as of March 12)
Tony Trisciani – Head Coach
Billy Crocker –Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Drew Folmar –Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Tony Lucas – Running Backs/Special Teams Coordinator
Ryan Anderson – Safeties
Andy Marino – Offensive Line
Seth Payne – Defensive Line
Chris Young – Wide Receivers
Chris Bland – Cornerbacks
Clay Browning – Tight Ends/Recruiting Coordinator
Dillon Lucas – Defensive Assistant
Nick DiMarco – Strength & Conditioning
Dan Baranik – Director of Football Operations
Hal Capps – Director of High School Relations