Elder closed his prodigious career as the winningest head coach in the storied history of Midwestern State men's soccer. He ended his career as the 12th winningest coach in NCAA soccer history (all divisions) with an .800 winning percentage. That ranks second all-time in NCAA Division II. Elder’s 274 wins are the 30th most in D2 history.
 
The lore of the MSU men's soccer program grew during the Elder era with winning seasons in each of his 18 seasons at the helm. The Mustangs made postseason bids a near annual rite of passage, making the championship field 13 times while advancing to the national quarterfinals on six occasions and to the Final Four in 2007 and 2010. That's to say nothing of the nine Southwest Soccer/Lone Star/Heartland Conference titles gained under Elder's tutelage.
 
A 1985 alum of MSU, Elder posted a 274-56-31 mark after taking the reins of the Mustangs’ soccer program in 2000. On Sept. 10, 2015, he surpassed former mentor Howard Patterson to become the winningest coach in program history with win No. 222 following an 8-1 victory over Southern Nazarene (Okla.) at Stang Park.
 
Elder earned LSC Coach of the Year honors four times (2022, 2009, 2010 and 2011), Southwest Soccer Conference Coach of the Year honors four-straight years from 2005-08 and Heartland Conference Coach of the Year in 2016 and 2017. He also collected his seventh NSCAA Region Coach of the Year plaque in 2017 after previously gaining the honor in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011.
 
Elder’s players have claimed 27 All-America honors including National Soccer Coaches Association of America /United Soccer Coaches awardees Josh Hill (2002), Daniel Woolard (2006), Brandon Swartzendruber (2006), Ahmad Ihmeidan (2007-08), Allen Thomson (2009), Ryan Spence (2010-11), Albert Rodriguez (2015), Flavio Guzman (2015-16), Christian Okeke (2016), Pierre Bocquet (2017) and Scott Doney (2017).

Elder is married to Leann. He has a son, Alex, daughter, Sarah, and step-daughters Lauren and Abby.