Elliott Day, a native of Cedar Rapids, didn't have far to come to college. This Class of 1956 Kohawk prepped at Cedar Rapids Franklin High where he was active in football, basketball, and baseball. Early in his career when he played Little League for Barney's Paint, he picked up the nickname "Shady" from teammate Bill Quinby who later became an athletic director at Coe. On the football field he proved the nickname was appropriate as he demonstrated time and again to opponents and officials alike that the hand was quicker than the eye.

Shady Day's handoffs and bootleg plays were masterpieces in the deceptive art of ball handling. As the quarterback of the undefeated 1955 Midwest Conference champions, some of Shady's finest plays never got into the record books. Often, as he faded to throw a scoring pass, the officials would blow the play dead early as they futilely followed what they thought was the ball in the hands of a running back.

The 1955 undefeated squad was one of the finest teams in Coe's history and Elliott Day was the spark that made the offense move. His skills as a passer, ball handler, and team leader brought him recognition on the Midwest Conference all-conference team in his junior and senior years and honorable mention both of those years on the Associated Press Little All-American squad.

Shady also played on the Midwest champion baseball team. The esteem in which he was held by his teammates was evident when he was selected team captain and selected to the all-tournament team.