Phil Elmassian

Phil Elmassian

Biographical details
Born	(1951-04-28) April 28, 1951 Wellesley, Massachusetts
Playing career
1971–1974	William & Mary
Position(s)	Defensive back
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1974–1975	William & Mary (QB/RB)
1976–1978	Richmond (QB/RB)
1979–1982	Ferrum (DC)
1983	East Carolina (DB)
1984	Minnesota (DB)
1985–1986	Virginia Tech (DB)
1987–1990	Virginia (DB)
1991–1992	Syracuse (DB)
1993–1994	Virginia Tech (DC)
1995	Washington (assistant)
1996	Boston College (DC)
1997–1999	Wisconsin (DB)
2000	LSU (DC)
2001	West Virginia (DC)
2002	Marshall (LB)
2003	Purdue (DB)
2004–2007	Nebraska (DB)
2008	Louisiana–Monroe (DC)
2009–2010	Illinois State (DC)
2011	Purdue (LB)
2012–2013	UMass (DC)
2014	Ferrum (DC)

Phil Elmassian (/ɛlˈmeɪʃən/ el-MAY-shən; born April 28, 1951) is a retired American football coach. His last job was as the defensive coordinator for Ferrum College.

Playing career

Elmassian was a two-year starter on the Wellesley High School football team. After graduating, he went on the play college football at Ferrum Junior College for Hank Norton transferring after two seasons to William and Mary under coach Lou Holtz where he played defensive back.

Coaching career

Elmassian began his coaching career at his alma mater William and Mary in 1974, serving two seasons as the running backs and quarterbacks coach. He then moved to Richmond where he spent three seasons (1976–1978) as the running backs and quarterbacks coach for the Spiders. From 1979 to 1982 Elmassian earned his first defensive coordinator position at Ferrum College, which was classified as a junior college at that time. From 1983 to 1992 Elmassian spent time at East Carolina, Minnesota, Virginia Tech, Virginia and Syracuse as a secondary coach. In 1993 Elmassian garnered his first defensive coordinator job at a major football college at Virginia Tech. He held the position for 2 seasons before serving as the Boston College defensive coordinator from 1995 to 1996. From 1997 to 1999 Elmassian served as the secondary coach at Wisconsin, during his stint at Wisconsin the Badgers ranked first in the nation in scoring defense in 1998 and fifth in the nation in 1999. Elmassian was the defensive coordinator for LSU in 2000 and West Virginia in 2001. Between the 2002 and 2007 seasons, Elmassian was a position coach at Marshall, Purdue and Nebraska. Elmassian next spent one season in 2008 at Louisiana-Monroe as its defensive coordinator before serving two years (2009–2010) as the defensive coordinator for Illinois State. Elmassian then went back to Purdue for one season in 2011 to serve as linebackers coach for the Boilermakers. In 2012, Elmassian was named defensive coordinator for head coach Charley Molnar's staff at UMass. Elmassian was fired after the 2013 season. He then returned to Ferrum College to serve as defensive coordinator in 2014 where he resigned for health reasons toward the end of the season. He now assist on a sport's radio show in Roanoke.

External links

• Illinois State profile