An early look at what NC State’s defense will look like under new DC D.J. Eliot

For new NC State defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot, the past three years have been integral in his development as a coach. 

Eliot was Temple’s defensive coordinator in 2022 before he served as the Philadelphia Eagles’ linebackers coach the following season and he was a defensive analyst at Baylor this past fall. 

All three stops were different in their own right, including the NFL, where Eliot noted he “grew exponentially” as an Xs and Os coach. But the varying experiences have helped craft who he is today.

Now, he’s back at the controls of a unit in his first stint on a Dave Doeren-led team.

Why was NC State the right landing spot for Eliot, a longtime defensive coordinator, to get back on the saddle and call plays again? The stars aligned in what he was looking for in his next job opportunity.

“I’m at the point where I really want to take something and grow it — put some of the stamps on it from the last two years that I’ve learned in the NFL and with Dave Aranda,” Eliot said Wednesday afternoon. “This one, I felt was perfect for it. It had the personnel I was looking for, some schematics that are in place that I was looking for and the chance to do it with Coach Doeren too.”

Eliot, who previously ran a 3-4 scheme with the Owls, plans to operate out of the 3-3-5 that former defensive coordinator Tony Gibson choreographed in Raleigh. Gibson, who is now Marshall’s head coach, laid the foundation for what Eliot wants to use as a building block to move forward. 

While that will be the starting spot, it isn’t what Eliot will stay in. He’s determined to use multiple looks throughout the 2025 campaign, including four-man fronts or a 3-4 scheme, at times. 

The goal is to confuse opposing offenses while being easy for the Wolfpack’s defenders to grasp and use to their advantage. 

“I want to be multiple to an offense, but simple to our players,” Eliot said. “We’re building from the defense that they have been playing. But we’re going to change a few things, we’re going to disguise a few things and we’re going to pressure a little differently.”

Pressure was a word that Eliot used multiple times throughout his first meeting with the Raleigh media. For good reason. The defensive coordinator built a reputation for getting after the quarterback during his lone season at Temple, where he embraced simulated pressures for the first time in his coaching career. 

That paid dividends, too. The Owls were eighth in FBS in sacks per game (3.2) and ninth in tackles for a loss per game (7.3) as Eliot’s group made it difficult for opposing offense to know where the pressure was coming from. That appears to Eliot something he wants to deploy with the Pack. 

While Eliot will be at the helm of the unit, he will be able to lean on newly hired co-defensive coordinator Charlton Warren, who was Indiana’s defensive coordinator in 2021 and was most recently North Carolina’s assistant head coach for defense. 

Warren brings a wealth of knowledge to NC State. He believed that working in tandem with Eliot will allow the Wolfpack defense to improve and grow in the 2025 season. 

“It’s one of those things where you get to build something together, to be able to be on the same page and we both get to bring our experiences … to make the best package to give the kids the best chance to win,” said Warren, who will also coach nickels and safeties. “It’s just the expectation to bring some of my knowledge to the table and blend it with whatever Coach Eliot wants to do at the end of the day.”

Eliot has tasked his new assistants with helping him disguise certain looks defensively, new co-defensive line coach Elisha Shaw said. The Wolfpack, like all defenses, wants to get after the quarterback, but NC State will also look to “blur” what the signal-callers see in coverage. 

The Pack’s new defensive coordinator is big on details and having his players in the right position to make plays, too. That will also be key for the team’s defensive assistants to help implement moving forward.

“I’m fired up about what he can bring to this defense and how we can help this defense evolve to play some dominant football,” Shaw said. “I’m excited about that. How we evolve this defense and allow guys like Brandon Cleveland to get 1-on-1s and dominate, allow guys like Travali [Price] to dominate 1-on-1s. … Just putting these players in position [to win.]”

While NC State’s defense will have similarities to what the Pack ran for the last five seasons, it will have a new flare on it. That is what Eliot was looking forward to installing, using this as a positive for those that stayed at NC State to continue to develop with a slightly different philosophy.

“We’re selling these players that sometimes change is good and sometimes growing is good,” Eliot said. “Not only are we building off what they did last year, but we’re working on selling them that some of the things we’re going to do are going to be good for their growth and their production. They like what they’re hearing and we’re looking forward to working with them in the spring.”