Head Football Coach at Lewis & Clark (February 2025-present, 2026: 2nd season)
Career Record: 6-4 (40%)
Career NWC Record: 3-4 (42.9%)
L&C Resume
Led Lewis & Clark to their first above .500 season since 2011 with a 6-4 record in his first season (2025)
Started his first season 5-0 - marking just the seventh 5-0 start in program history
Worked with senior Jack Warren ('26) who earned All-Region First Team honors
Six players were named to the NWC All-Conference Team
Offensive Coordinator/Assistant Coach/Player at Linfield University - NCAA DIII
Named the 2005 Gagliardi Trophy, Melberger Award and D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year as the top player in NCAA DIII
Served as the starting quarterback on the 2004 team that went 13-0 and won the NCAA DIII National Title
Earned All-American honors in both seasons as a player (2004-05)
Set the NCAA DIII record for most passing touchdowns in a season (61 in 2004) and the career records for touchdowns per game (4.6), yards per game (364.4), and the highest average yards gained per play (9.8)
Started his collegiate coaching career at his alma mater in 2008
Served as the team's Offensive Coordinator from 2019-25 and led the team to the NCAA DIII Tournament in four of his five seasons
Coached his quarterbacks to All-Conference honors in all five seasons and Wyatt Smith was named the NWC Offensive Player of the Year 2x (2019, 21)
Assistant Coach at Mississippi State University - NCAA DI (2012-15, 2017)
Worked with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and 2017 Davey O’Brien Award Semifinalist (top quarterback in FBS) Nick Fitzgerald
Mississippi State was ranked number one in the country for five weeks during the 2014 season
Served as the Interim Offensive Coordinator for the 2017 TaxSlayer Bowl: 31-27 win over the University of Louisville
Brett Elliott enters his second season as head coach at Lewis & Clark in the Fall of 2025. In addition to his head coaching responsibilities, Elliott also works with the team's quarterback room.
In his first season as head coach, Elliott led the program to it's first winning record (6-4) since 2011. The River Otters raced out to a 5-0 start for only the seventh time in program history. Lewis & Clark earned 17+ votes in both the D3football.com Top-25 Poll and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Poll for the first time in program history. Elliott kicked off his head coaching career with a massive 56-20 road win over the University of Puget Sound in his head coaching debut. The River Otters tacked on big wins over George Fox University (38-10) and Pomona-Pitzer (21-3) to go undefeated during non-conference play. Lewis & Clark added wins over Puget Sound (58-21) and a Wagon Wheel Rivalry win over Willamette University (28-20). Football closed out the season with a 28-21 win over Pacific University to secure the program's second above .500 season since 1996. Six players earned All-Conference honors for the first times in their career at the end of the season. Senior Jack Warren was named to the D3football.com First Team All-Region Team for the second-straight season.
Elliott comes to Lewis & Clark from NCAA DIII power Linfield University, where he was the 2005 National Player of the Year as a player and served two stints as a coach. He most recently served as the Wildcats offensive coordinator for the past six years. In addition to serving as the team's head coach, he will work with the team's quarterbacks and serve as the team's lead recruiter in Oregon (North of Corvallis) and Tacoma, Washington.
Elliott, who is a native of Lake Oswego, has been building to this point since he started coaching in 2008. Over the past decade-plus, he has spent stints at Linfield (two), Mississippi State University (two), James Madison University and Texas State University (two).
In his most recent role as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Linfield, Elliott helped guide the Wildcats to the NCAA DIII Tournament in four of his five seasons, including a trip to the quarterfinals in 2021. The Wildcats averaged 42 points or more in all five seasons and led all of Division III in passing offense (379.2) in 2019 and red-zone offense (95.0 percent) in 2024. Linfield’s quarterbacks earned All-Conference honors in all five seasons under Elliott and Wyatt Smith was named the NWC Offensive Player of the Year in 2019 and 21. Smith was named a finalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, an award given annually to a Division III football player for exhibiting excellence in athletics, academics and community service, during the 2021 campaign.
Prior to his second stint at Linfield, Elliott spent seven seasons working at the NCAA DI level. He coached for four seasons with Mississippi State University, first as an offensive graduate assistant and offensive quality control coach (2012-15) and then as the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2017. During his time with the Bulldogs, he worked with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and 2017 Davey O’Brien Award Semifinalist (top quarterback in FBS) Nick Fitzgerald. The Bulldogs were ranked number one in the country for five weeks during the 2014 season. In his final game with the program in 2017, Elliott served as the interim offensive coordinator for the team’s 31-27 win over the University of Louisville in the TaxSlayer Bowl.
Elliott had an impressive playing career. He spent three years at Division I University of Utah, before transferring to Linfield for his final two seasons. Elliott played in 12 games with the Utes from 2000-03. He then put together one of the most decorated careers in Linfield history. The quarterback led Linfield to a 23-1 record across the 2004 and 2005 seasons, including a perfect 13-0 season in 2004 that culminated with a National Championship. He was named the 2005 winner of the Gagliardi, Melberger (best player in DIII) and D3football.com Offensive Player of the Year awards. Elliott earned All-American honors in both seasons as a Wildcat. He finished his Linfield career as the program-record holder in nearly every category and still owns the NCAA DIII record for most touchdown passes in a season (61 in 2004), and the career records for touchdowns per game (4.6), yards per game (364.4), and the highest average yards gained per play (9.8).
He went on to play professionally from 2006-11 and spent time on the roster of the San Diego Chargers (National Football League), Hamilton Tiger-Cats (Canadian Football League) and the San Jose Sabercats, Utah Blaze and Georgia Force of the Arena Football League. Elliott started for the Blaze in 2010 and threw for over 2,600 yards and 59 touchdowns.
| Season |
Overall |
Conference |
Finish |
| 2025 |
6-4 |
3-4 |
5th |
| TOTAL (1 Season) |
6-4 |
3-4 |
|
