Bill Elias rejoined the Gannon Athletics Department in May 2013 as the Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Compliance and Operations after coming back to Gannon University as the Senior Associate Director of Athletics Project Manager in December 2011.
Elias previously served as Gannon’s Director of Athletics from March 2006-December 2008. Among his successes was Gannon’s move from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). The department captured conference championships in women’s basketball, men’s basketball, softball and men’s soccer during his tenure. He also served as a member of the NCAA Division II Football Committee which determines postseason participants and conducts the national championship.
Following almost three years as Gannon’s Director of Athletics, Elias became the assistant head football coach and recruiting coordinator at NCAA Division I Miami (Ohio). He was part of a staff that transformed the program from a 1-11 record into conference champions.
A veteran member of the Gannon athletic department, Elias served as the Gannon head football coach for seven years (1999-06) before assuming the Director of Athletics position. The former Division I assistant completed Gannon’s move from non-scholarship football to the scholarship level in 2003.
Elias was introduced to the Erie media on January 8, 1999, becoming only the third football coach in the school’s history (Lou Tullio and Tom Herman). During his seven-year tenure, the program broke 152 team or individual school records.
He steadily improved the Golden Knights every year, culminating with a school-best 9-1 record in 2003. Elias was named Independent Football Alliance (IFA) Coach of the Year after the Golden Knights broke the school record for victories in a season and produced the best winning percentage since the 1949 team went 8-0. The tremendous season capped a five-year turnaround under Elias that took the program from a 1-9 record in his inaugural season in 1999 to 2003’s fabulous campaign.
Elias came to Gannon in 1999 from Louisiana State University, where he had served as an assistant head coach since 1994. LSU is a member of the Southeastern Conference. As an assistant at LSU, Elias served as outside linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator. And, from 1994-95, he coached the team’s tight ends, tutoring two players, David LaFleur and Nicky Savoie, who were selected in the 1997 NFL draft. A native of West Lafayette, Ind., Elias graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and journalism. He and his wife, Kathy, have two sons, Willie and Darren. Willie graduated from Gannon after playing fullback for the 2001 Golden Knights. Darren graduated from the University of Redlands.
