Elias has a background in developing national class runners. While working at the University of Minnesota (1985-1993), he formed a Twin Cities based training group for post collegiate athletes that produced nationally known distance runners. Leslie Seymour (8:51) and Sammie Gdowski (8:54) received national prominence after Elias helped them produce sub 9:00 minute 3,000 meter performances. Seymour was seventh at the 1987 World Indoors Championship and represented the United States at three consecutive World Cross Country Championships, finishing as America's number two runner in 1988. Elias also coached U.S. Olympian Bob Kempainen to his personal best in the 10,000 meters in 1993.

At Texas Tech (1993-1997), his success was evident as school records in middle distance and distance events were broken on a yearly basis. In 1996, his last cross country season at Texas Tech, he guided the harriers to their highest NCAA District finish in school history in spite of having five freshmen in the team's top seven. One of those freshmen, Leigh Daniel, advanced to the NCAA Championship, finishing as the sixth freshman in the country and 50th overall.

A 1978 graduate of Minnesota (B.S. in Secondary Education, Speech and English), Elias began his coahcing career in the high school ranks working with three high school state championship cross country teams. In 1981, he moved to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for a two-year stint (1981-83). His final year there saw the cross country and track & field teams finish second and ninth, respectively, at the NAIA National Championships. In his two years at UWEC, the Blugolds had 14 All-Americans.

Elias returned to his alma mater as the sprints, hurdles, and jumps coach in 1985. While working with the University of Minnesota Gophers, his athletes recorded school records in the high jump, triple jump, 100 meter hurdles, 400 meter hurdles, 100 meter dash and 4x100 meter and 4x400 meter relays.

Elias is also very active in coaching education programs. He is Level II certified in the jumps in the United States and the Caribbean. He is also a Level I instructor in the Caribbean and has instructed Level II training theory in the U.S. Elias also served as an instructor in the TAC Junior Elite Jump Camp in 1991 and 1992. During the summers of 1989 and 1991, he coached the British Virgin Islands national record holders in the men's high jump and the boy's high school high jump.

Elias was the 1996 and 1997District Representative to the National Women's Cross Country Committee. He is also a noted clinician/speaker, having worked the TAC Junior Elite Jump Camp, the National Scholastic Indoor Championship Clinic, and camps at Rice University, Texas Tech, the University of Illinois and the University of Southern Illinois. He has spoken at state coaches clinics in Arkansas, New Mexico, Minnesota, Texas and Wisconsin.