Having played an integral role in Elon's turnaround the last two seasons, defensive coordinator Tony Trisciani was named the 23rd head coach in program history on Monday.
Trisciani, who also had been the assistant head coach, replaces Curt Cignetti, who resigned on Friday to become the head coach at James Madison.
The 45-year-old Trisciani has 23 years of coaching experience, including 13 in CAA Football. The past two seasons, Elon earned back-to-back FCS playoff berths for the first time in program history.
"He has the passion, experience and leadership needed to keep our football program competing at a high level both on the field in the CAA and in our classrooms," Elon athletic director Dave Blank said.
Trisciani is a 1996 graduate of Springfield College, where he began his coaching career.
He in his second coaching stint at Elon, having served as a defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator in 2006. He's also been an assistant at Villanova, New Hampshire, Lehigh and Alfred.