Apr. 22—VERMILLION, S.D. — University of South Dakota inside linebackers coach Elijah Hodge constantly brings the energy whenever he’s in the facility.
He’s not afraid to let someone know where they made a mistake, but it’s just as important to lift them up right after. Not only does he value relationships with the linebackers he sees almost every day, but he also makes sure he has working relationships with all of USD’s players, regardless of position.
Hodge is the second-longest tenured assistant coach in Vermillion and has proven himself to be a pillar of the program, constantly challenging everyone on the team to improve.
Why does he put so much effort into fostering relationships and always challenge everyone to give 110%?
It’s what he’s lived for since he got into coaching.
“People say identify your why, and once you know it, leverage it. (The players) have become my why,” Hodge said. “There are some days where I may be tired, believe it or not. There are some days where I may have some things going on, but I walk into these doors and I understand that there are 9-10 linebackers that are depending on Coach Hodge to show up every day. They hold me accountable the same way I hold them accountable.”
Like many coaches in today’s game, Hodge was once a player himself. After playing high school ball in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he began his college career at Wisconsin in 2005. In his four years in Madison, Hodge played in 35 games, recording 101 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
He redshirted his freshman season, which gave him an additional year of eligibility, which he used at Northern Iowa in 2009. In his lone season in Cedar Falls, he recorded 64 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
After his playing career, he didn’t immediately enter the coaching world. In fact, he worked as a school administrator for about a decade at various institutions before he finally put the headset on in 2018 as the head football coach at Roxbury Prep in Boston.
After being out of football for many years, getting into coaching was a gateway for Hodge. His love for the game returned and it brought back memories of his own coaches who played crucial roles in his upbringing. Those figures helped shape his coaching style.
“It’s kind of paying homage to a lot of my coaches growing up, they filled the void of a father figure,” Hodge said. “My father passed when I was young, so a lot of my coaches and mentors became my father figure. The way I coach is to give back and pay respect to the coaches that brought me up as well.”
In 2021, Hodge founded Linebacker Performance, a training service geared toward middle, high school and college linebackers with a mission “To provide linebackers development focused and detail-oriented coaching that equips them with the physical and mental means needed to excel in football and life.”
Finally, he was offered the chance to coach at USD when Bob Nielson offered him the inside linebackers coaching position ahead of the 2023 season. Since then, he’s made his mark on the program.
Since joining the program, Hodge has become one of the most important coaching figures on the team. He’s the second-longest tenured assistant coach, only behind running backs coach Dante Warren, who’s been with the program since 2018. Overall, only two coaches have been with the program for longer: Warren and head coach Travis Johansen, who arrived in 2019 as defensive coordinator.
Johansen has worked alongside Hodge since he arrived and said a presence like his is necessary for football programs to reach their full potential.
“Elijah brings such an energy and a passion around football, love of the game, just invested in a level that’s so great, and you see it,” Johansen said. “He wears it on his sleeve, and the players feel that and respond highly to it. He’s got great relationships with players. You need guys like that as part of your staff that are just so in tune to the love of the game all the time.”
Hodge’s passion and daily commitment to his players helped produce some of the best talent to come out of Vermillion in the last few seasons.
Since he arrived, he’s coached three all-conference linebackers, including Stephen Hillis, Gary Bryant III and current Dallas Cowboy Brock Mogensen, who was also named the 2023 Missouri Valley Football Conference defensive player of the year and a first-team All-American. All three of those players recorded 100-tackle seasons at least once.
He’s also mentored a larger group of talented linebackers, including Michael Scott, Parker Fryar and Nate Ewell, all of whom were named to the MVFC newcomer teams under Hodge’s leadership.
Through it all, he’s brought the energy every day, committed to making better players and even better people.
“Coach Hodge is definitely like a spark plug,” Ewell said. “He’s always plugged in, he’s always on 100%, he’s always ready to go. He’s going to bring the energy wherever it is, whenever it is. If it’s four in the morning and you want to meet, he’s going to be there. If it’s 10 p.m. and we want to meet, he’s going to do the exact same thing.”
Everything comes back to the relationships with the players, though. Hodge is there not just for football advice, but life advice too. He values those off-the-field connections with players equally as much as the on-field connection.
Having an on-field and an off-field mentality is a lesson one of Hodge’s mentors taught him, and one he carries with him every day.
“We play a violent sport, it’s a lot of physicality, it’s a lot of energy and urgency in what we’re doing. Then we cross the lines off the field, that’s when the smiles come back,” Hodge said. “You can show your character, your personality, there’s nothing wrong with that. I try to model that. Once I’m on that field, it’s business. When I’m off the field, it’s business as well, but I can show more of my characteristics, my character and smile a little more.”
“You’re down some days and you’ve got somebody to lift you up. Sometimes you need that in life,” linebacker Gabriel Hardman said. “He’s not just there on the field, but he’s also there for us off the field. Having someone like that is truly amazing. … He’s the best of the best. I have so many words on how I could explain him. He’s the true definition of a linebacker coach and somebody that’s going to be there for you off the field.”
Hodge does have future aspirations, eventually wanting to make a jump to defensive coordinator sometime down the line. However, he admitted he always lives for the here and now. He’s focused on getting the most out of every player in Vermillion and elevating the program.
In the end, his passion, dedication to his craft and fostering relationships with players will always make him a critical element at USD, or wherever his future may be. And he’ll always focus on building connections with the players who look up to him.
“I empower them and tell them that relationship is a two-way street,” Hodge said. “I have to trust them, they have to trust me. … There are no egos involved, there’s no pride. It’s just a young man and a coach with the same mind, the same goals and trying to get the same things accomplished. They mean a lot to me.”
VERMILLION, S.D. – University of South Dakota inside linebackers coach Elijah Hodge constantly brings the energy whenever he’s in the facility.
He’s not afraid to let someone know where they made a mistake, but it’s just as important to lift them up right after. Not only does he value relationships with the linebackers he sees almost every day, but he also makes sure he has working relationships with all of USD’s players, regardless of position.
Hodge is the second-longest tenured assistant coach in Vermillion and has proven himself to be a pillar of the program, constantly challenging everyone on the team to improve.
Why does he put so much effort into fostering relationships and always challenge everyone to give 110%?
It’s what he’s lived for since he got into coaching.
Nathan Swaffar / Mitchell Republic
“People say identify your why, and once you know it, leverage it. (The players) have become my why,” Hodge said. “There are some days where I may be tired, believe it or not. There are some days where I may have some things going on, but I walk into these doors and I understand that there are 9-10 linebackers that are depending on Coach Hodge to show up every day. They hold me accountable the same way I hold them accountable.”
Like many coaches in today’s game, Hodge was once a player himself. After playing high school ball in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he began his college career at Wisconsin in 2005. In his four years in Madison, Hodge played in 35 games, recording 101 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.
He redshirted his freshman season, which gave him an additional year of eligibility, which he used at Northern Iowa in 2009. In his lone season in Cedar Falls, he recorded 64 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
After his playing career, he didn’t immediately enter the coaching world. In fact, he worked as a school administrator for about a decade at various institutions before he finally put the headset on in 2018 as the head football coach at Roxbury Prep in Boston.
After being out of football for many years, getting into coaching was a gateway for Hodge. His love for the game returned and it brought back memories of his own coaches who played crucial roles in his upbringing. Those figures helped shape his coaching style.
“It’s kind of paying homage to a lot of my coaches growing up, they filled the void of a father figure,” Hodge said. “My father passed when I was young, so a lot of my coaches and mentors became my father figure. The way I coach is to give back and pay respect to the coaches that brought me up as well.”
Nathan Swaffar / Mitchell Republic
In 2021, Hodge founded Linebacker Performance, a training service geared toward middle, high school and college linebackers with a mission “To provide linebackers development focused and detail-oriented coaching that equips them with the physical and mental means needed to excel in football and life.”
Finally, he was offered the chance to coach at USD when Bob Nielson offered him the inside linebackers coaching position ahead of the 2023 season. Since then, he’s made his mark on the program.
Since joining the program, Hodge has become one of the most important coaching figures on the team. He’s the second-longest tenured assistant coach, only behind running backs coach Dante Warren, who’s been with the program since 2018. Overall, only two coaches have been with the program for longer: Warren and head coach Travis Johansen, who arrived in 2019 as defensive coordinator.
Johansen has worked alongside Hodge since he arrived and said a presence like his is necessary for football programs to reach their full potential.
Nathan Swaffar / Mitchell Republic
“Elijah brings such an energy and a passion around football, love of the game, just invested in a level that’s so great, and you see it,” Johansen said. “He wears it on his sleeve, and the players feel that and respond highly to it. He’s got great relationships with players. You need guys like that as part of your staff that are just so in tune to the love of the game all the time.”
Hodge’s passion and daily commitment to his players helped produce some of the best talent to come out of Vermillion in the last few seasons.
Since he arrived, he’s coached three all-conference linebackers, including Stephen Hillis, Gary Bryant III and current Dallas Cowboy Brock Mogensen, who was also named the 2023 Missouri Valley Football Conference defensive player of the year and a first-team All-American. All three of those players recorded 100-tackle seasons at least once.
He’s also mentored a larger group of talented linebackers, including Michael Scott, Parker Fryar and Nate Ewell, all of whom were named to the MVFC newcomer teams under Hodge’s leadership.
Through it all, he’s brought the energy every day, committed to making better players and even better people.
“Coach Hodge is definitely like a spark plug,” Ewell said. “He’s always plugged in, he’s always on 100%, he’s always ready to go. He’s going to bring the energy wherever it is, whenever it is. If it’s four in the morning and you want to meet, he’s going to be there. If it’s 10 p.m. and we want to meet, he’s going to do the exact same thing.”
Nathan Swaffar / Mitchell Republic
Everything comes back to the relationships with the players, though. Hodge is there not just for football advice, but life advice too. He values those off-the-field connections with players equally as much as the on-field connection.
Having an on-field and an off-field mentality is a lesson one of Hodge’s mentors taught him, and one he carries with him every day.
“We play a violent sport, it’s a lot of physicality, it’s a lot of energy and urgency in what we’re doing. Then we cross the lines off the field, that’s when the smiles come back,” Hodge said. “You can show your character, your personality, there’s nothing wrong with that. I try to model that. Once I’m on that field, it’s business. When I’m off the field, it’s business as well, but I can show more of my characteristics, my character and smile a little more.”
“You’re down some days and you’ve got somebody to lift you up. Sometimes you need that in life,” linebacker Gabriel Hardman said. “He’s not just there on the field, but he’s also there for us off the field. Having someone like that is truly amazing. … He’s the best of the best. I have so many words on how I could explain him. He’s the true definition of a linebacker coach and somebody that’s going to be there for you off the field.”
Hodge does have future aspirations, eventually wanting to make a jump to defensive coordinator sometime down the line. However, he admitted he always lives for the here and now. He’s focused on getting the most out of every player in Vermillion and elevating the program.
Nathan Swaffar / Mitchell Republic
In the end, his passion, dedication to his craft and fostering relationships with players will always make him a critical element at USD, or wherever his future may be. And he’ll always focus on building connections with the players who look up to him.
“I empower them and tell them that relationship is a two-way street,” Hodge said. “I have to trust them, they have to trust me. … There are no egos involved, there’s no pride. It’s just a young man and a coach with the same mind, the same goals and trying to get the same things accomplished. They mean a lot to me.”
