Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football

History

Early years

The program began in the late 1800s, but its tradition did not truly develop until the arrival of Bill Murray in 1940. During his 11 seasons at the helm, the Fightin' Blue Hens compiled a record of 49–16–2 with one National Championship in 1946, which culminated in a win over Rollins in the now-defunct Cigar Bowl. That was good for an impressive .747 winning percentage. After Murray departed to take over at Duke University in 1950, David M. Nelson came on board as head coach.

20th century

During his time at Delaware, Nelson developed the Delaware Wing-T offensive system. This system, strongly rooted in running the football and deceptive fake hand-offs, became the identity of Delaware football for nearly 50 years. Nelson also brought with him another icon of Delaware football: the "winged" helmet. The iconic Michigan-style helmet was developed by Nelson's coach at Michigan, Fritz Crisler, who first used the helmet design when he was head coach at Princeton, though in black and orange. Nelson played for Crisler when Crisler was head coach at Michigan, and Nelson brought the helmet design with him to every team he coached (Hillsdale College, Harvard, Maine and Delaware). Nelson stepped down as football coach in 1965, and in his 15 years (1951–1965), the Hens compiled an 84–42–2 (.664) record with one National Championship in 1963 and a bowl win over Kent State in the now-defunct Refrigerator Bowl.

In 1966, an assistant football and baseball coach named Harold "Tubby" Raymond took over, and after a rocky start (the team recorded a 2–7 record in his second season) became the face of Delaware football for 36 seasons. While Nelson developed the Delaware Wing-T, Raymond perfected it. When he retired in 2001, Raymond had racked up 300 wins against 119 losses and three ties, good for a .714 win percentage. His teams earned 14 Lambert Cup Trophies (as the best team in the east in a particular division), four national semi-finals, and three National Championships in 1971, 1972, and 1979. His 300 wins account for nearly half of the football victories in school history. These three men (Murray, Nelson and Raymond) are all enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Georgia Tech is the only other school to place three consecutive coaches into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Notable program victories include multiple wins over Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools Navy (including a win at Navy's Homecoming game during a year when they went to a bowl game), Maryland, Rutgers, and Temple. Speculation regularly exists regarding whether the Blue Hens will "move up" to the FBS level at some point. The University of Delaware has more than 60 wins against opponents playing at the highest level, whether that was FBS (since 2006), I-A, or the University level (prior to 1978). However, whereas most I-AA schools move up because of the perception of increased money and prestige, UD has an extremely profitable football program, and it is already well-regarded academically and athletically.

"We're the LSU; we're the Georgia, the Florida of Division I-AA", Delaware coach K. C. Keeler said in American Football Monthly in September 2004. "We have every resource. There's some people who have better resources than we do, but in general, the college campus we have is in one of the greatest college towns in America, and the academics ... we led the nation last year in out-of-state applications, more than Michigan or Texas. But that's what this school has become – everybody wants to come to school here."

While most schools at the FCS level can expect 8,000–10,000 fans for a football game on a good day, the Fightin' Blue Hens can expect sellout crowds of over 22,000 at every home contest; Delaware was the only FCS program to average more than 20,000 fans per regular-season home game for each season from 1999 to 2010. Since Delaware Stadium opened in 1952, it has undergone four major expansions to come to its current capacity of 22,000 (in the 1970s it actually seated over 23,000, but subsequent modifications have reduced the capacity to the current number).

In 1973, a home attendance record was set on October 27 against Temple University with 23,619 fans, and attendance has exceeded 22,000 fans frequently. When the Fightin' Blue Hens have a home game, the stadium population becomes the fourth largest city in Delaware behind Wilmington, Dover, and Newark. Maine head coach Jack Cosgrove told Keeler that playing Delaware at Delaware Stadium is the highlight of many of his players' collegiate careers because of their large fan support.

21st century

In June 2008, Keeler was granted a 10-year contract extension that was intended to keep him on as head coach of the Blue Hens through the 2017 season. The Homecoming Game versus William & Mary on October 18, 2008, marked the first time in 18 years that the Fightin' Blue Hens did not score a touchdown in a home game. The final score of 27–3 also made Delaware's third straight loss scoring ten points or fewer for the first time since the end of the 1983 season. Delaware's eighth loss, to Villanova University in the final game of the season, ended a season with eight losses for the first time in 117 seasons. The Fightin' Blue Hens were one of only four teams in the NCAA to never lose eight games in a season; the others are Michigan, which lost its eighth game a week before the Hens the same season, Tennessee, and Ohio State.

On January 7, 2014, Keeler was fired following the 2012 season in which his team posted a 5−6 record. Delaware hired Rutgers offensive coordinator Dave Brock as the team's head coach on January 18, 2013.

Brock was unable to maintain any of the success or momentum of his predecessors, could not recruit as successfully as his predecessors, and oversaw a precipitous decline in the program's on and off field fortunes. He became the first head coach in the 90+ year history of Delaware football to be fired in-season, on October 17, 2016. He was replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Dennis Dottin-Carter, who completed the 2016 season. The team never made the FCS playoffs under his tenure. The team hired Richmond head coach Danny Rocco on December 13, 2016. Rocco was fired at the end of the 2021 season.

With a September 7, 2019 victory over the Rhode Island Rams, Delaware became the 39th team in the NCAA with 700 wins.

On December 10, 2021, Delaware named former UD quarterback Ryan Carty as their new head coach. Carty spent 11 years on the New Hampshire coaching staff, and spent 4 years as offensive coordinator at Sam Houston State under Keeler.

On November 28, 2023, Delaware and Conference USA (CUSA) announced that the Blue Hens would begin the transition process to the Football Bowl Subdivision after the 2023 season, to join Conference USA beginning in 2025. UD played in the CAA in 2024, but was not eligible for the FCS playoffs due to NCAA rules for transitioning programs.

Head coaches

Main article: List of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens head football coaches

Conference affiliations

• 1889–1945: Independent
• 1946: Mason–Dixon Conference
• 1947–1955: Independent
• 1956–1957: NCAA College Division Independent
• 1958–1969: Middle Atlantic Conference (NCAA College Division)
• 1970–1972: NCAA College Division Independent
• 1973–1979: NCAA Division II Independent
• 1980–1985: NCAA Division I-AA Independent
• 1986–1996: Yankee Conference (NCAA Division I-AA)
• 1997–2006: Atlantic 10 Conference (NCAA Division I-AA/FCS)
• 2007–2024: CAA Football (NCAA Division I FCS)
• 2025-: Conference USA (NCAA Division I FBS)

Postseason results

Championships

National championships (6)

Conference championships (17)

† Co-champions

Bowl games

Delaware has participated in twelve bowl games, holding a record of 8–3 in non-Division I bowl games and a record of 1–0 in Division I bowl games.

Division I-AA/FCS playoffs

The Fightin' Blue Hens have nineteen appearances in the Division I-AA/FCS Playoffs. Their combined record was 25–18. They were I-AA National Champions in 2003.

Division II playoffs results

The Fightin' Blue Hens have appeared in the Division II playoffs five times with an overall record of 7–4. They were Division II National Champions in 1979.

Rivalries

Delaware State

Main article: Route 1 Rivalry

Delaware and Delaware State first played against each other on November 23, 2007, in Newark, Delaware, in the first round of the NCAA Division I National Championship Tournament. The Blue Hens defeated the Hornets 44–7 in front of 19,765 people, the largest playoff crowd in Delaware Stadium history.

Prior to the 2009 season, the University of Delaware had not scheduled a regular season game versus Delaware State University, the state's other Football Championship Subdivision team. A 2007 guest editorial at ESPN.com's Page 2 claimed that this has to do with the fact that Delaware State is a Historically Black College. However, Delaware has scheduled and played regular season games against several other Historically Black Colleges and Universities such as Morgan State University and North Carolina A&T.

On February 25, 2009, coach K.C. Keeler joined Delaware State University coach Al Lavan along with school officials and state politicians in Dover, Delaware, to announce that their schools had signed on to play the first regular season game in their history. Additionally, a three-game series was scheduled for September 2012, 2013, and 2014. All games in the series were held at Delaware Stadium in Newark, because its seating capacity of 22,000 is much larger than that of Delaware State's Alumni Stadium. The schools had been engaged in talks to play a game as early as 2009, but Furman University, which had previously signed a contract to play a home-and-away series with UD, backed out of game two which was scheduled to be played at UD in order to play University of Missouri and garner a larger payday. This left the University of Delaware with an open date to fill with only a few months before the season started and the two sides quickly completed the deal.

The first game was played on September 19, 2009, at Delaware Stadium, with the winning Blue Hens receiving the new traveling trophy, the First State Cup, following a 27–17 victory. Delaware has been victorious in each of their ten subsequent match-ups (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2025).

James Madison

Main article: Delaware–James Madison football rivalry

Delaware regularly played James Madison as conference opponents in the CAA, with the first matchup occurring in 1983. During the divisional era of the CAA, the game was played as an annual CAA South divisional matchup. As both teams had sustained success, games between the two schools often had conference and even national implications, and the series quickly grew into a rivalry as a result.

During this period, the teams combined for three National Championships (Delaware in 2003, James Madison in 2004 and 2016), four National Runners-up (Delaware in 2007 and 2010, James Madison in 2017 and 2019), and fifteen Conference Championships (Delaware in 1995, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2010 and 2020, and James Madison in 1999, 2004, 2008, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2021).

In 2020, as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the CAA split into divisions for the first time since 2009. Delaware was placed into the large North division, whereas JMU was placed in the four-team South division. With no crossover games, the rivalry was paused for this season. Despite this, the rivalry was only intensified, as both James Madison and Delaware went undefeated, and with no championship game, the CAA chose to award Delaware the conference title (as they had played in the North Division which held the vast majority of the conference's teams and therefore played not only a harder schedule but more unique conference opponents) giving them the automatic bid into the FCS Playoffs. (JMU was given an honorary "CAA South" title, as well as ultimately being selected as an at-large team into the FCS Playoffs.) In the playoffs, both Delaware and James Madison won two games each before being eliminated in the semi-finals by Sam Houston and Montana State.

When James Madison left the CAA in 2021 to join the FBS and the Sun Belt Conference, the rivalry was put on hold.

In 2023, it was announced that Delaware too would leave the CAA to join the FBS, with them joining Conference USA in 2025. With both teams now back in the same football subdivision, a four-game non-conference series was scheduled, starting in 2027.

In the 2025 release of the annual college football video game franchise, EA Sports College Football 26, the matchup was listed as a rivalry, Delaware's only rivalry in the game.

Villanova

Main article: Battle of the Blue

William & Mary

Main article: Delaware–William & Mary football rivalry

West Chester University

Main article: Delaware-West Chester football rivalry

Notable players

Active

• QB Joe Flacco – Baltimore Ravens (2008–2018), Denver Broncos (2019), New York Jets (2020), Philadelphia Eagles (2021), New York Jets (2021–2022), Cleveland Browns (2023), Indianapolis Colts (2024), Cleveland Browns (2025–present); Super Bowl XLVII Most Valuable Player
• QB Nolan Henderson – Houston Roughnecks (2024–present)
• CB Tyron Herring – Green Bay Packers (2025–present)
• DL Chase McGowan – Ottawa Redblacks (2024–present)
• DT Bilal Nichols – Chicago Bears (2018–2021), Las Vegas Raiders (2022–2023), Arizona Cardinals (2024–present)
• LB Troy Reeder – Los Angeles Rams (2019–2021), Los Angeles Chargers (2022), Los Angeles Rams (2023–present); won Super Bowl LVI
• S Kedrick Whitehead Jr. – Michigan Panthers (2024–present)
• RB Marcus Yarns – New Orleans Saints (2025–present)

Former

• DB Mike Adams
• S Nasir Adderley
• TE Robbie Agnone
• DB Kenny Bailey
• TE Josh Baker
• RB Nate Beasley
• WR Joe Bleymaier
• T Urban Bowman
• TE Nick Boyle
• QB Scott Brunner
• B Nick Bucci
• LB Johnny Buchanan
• CB Marcus Burley
• RB Keith Burnell
• OL Mike Byrne
• TE Brennan Carroll
• QB Ryan Carty
• FB Rocco J. Carzo
• QB Larry Catuzzi
• QB Jim Colbert
• WR Bill Cubit
• RB Omar Cuff
• LB Mondoe Davis
• Richard Dean
• QB Pat Devlin
• LB Leon Dombrowski
• WR Jamin Elliott
• Barry Fetterman
• LS Joe Fortunato
• QB Rich Gannon
• C Gino Gradkowski
• QB Andy Hall
• DB Sidney Haugabrook
• DB Travis Hawkins
• OL Conway Hayman
• Mickey Heinecken
• RB Wes Hills
• DB Tim Jacobs
• DL Dennis Johnson
• Peter Johnson
• WR Martwain Johnston
• RB Gardy Kahoe
• LB K. C. Keeler
• QB Pat Kehoe
• DT Zach Kerr
• QB Jeff Komlo
• G Mickey Kwiatkowski
• DE Matt Marcorelle
• DB Mike McGlinchey
• DT Joe McGrail
• LB Joe McHale
• QB Don Miller
• DL Joe Minucci
• TE Jeff Modesitt
• QB Matt Nagy
• John D. Naylor
• WR Vinny Papale
• TE Ben Patrick
• C Bob Patton
• Joe Purzycki
• Mike Purzycki
• G/LB Jim Quirk
• P David Raymond
• RB Dan Reeder
• Herm Reitzes
• Joseph J. Rothrock
• QB Warren Ruggiero
• DB George Schmitt
• T/LB Herb Slattery
• Tony Storti
• K Jon Striefsky
• S Ivory Sully
• OL Joe Susan
• DE Ronald Talley
• LB Jackson Taylor
• DE Hal Thompson
• RB/WR Brett Veach
• John E. Wallace Jr.
• DE Laith Wallschleger
• DB Anthony Walters
• DL Richard Washington
• DL Blaine Woodson
• LB Paul Worrilow
• WR Joshua Youngblood
• Bill Zwaan

;Notes

Draft picks

Main article: List of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens in the NFL draft

Future non-conference opponents

Announced schedules as of January 21, 2026.

College Football Hall of Fame inductees

References

References

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9. McMurphy, Brett. (January 18, 2013). "Delaware names Dave Brock coach". ESPN.com.
10. (October 16, 2013). "University of Delaware fires football coach Dave Brock". FoxSports.com.
11. (December 13, 2016). "Delaware hires Danny Rocco as its new football coach". [[USA Today]].
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13. "Blue Hens Win 3OT Thriller At URI, 44-36 For Program's 700th Win - University of Delaware Athletics".
14. Tresolini, Kevin. (December 10, 2021). "Ex-Blue Hens QB Carty named University of Delaware football coach". Delaware News-Journal.
15. (November 28, 2023). "CUSA Adds Delaware, Blue Hens to Join in 2025". Conference USA.
16. (November 28, 2023). "Delaware Accepts Invitation to Join Conference USA as Full Member". Delaware Blue Hens.
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18. Pearlman, Jeff. (September 24, 2007). "Is race the reason Delaware won't play Delaware State?". ESPN.com.
19. Michael, Gary. (23 September 2014). "From Fumble-Rooskie to "No Flags" - The JMU-Delaware Rivalry".
20. Kelly, Kevin. (27 October 2020). "CAA releases Spring 2021 football schedule".
21. Cobb, David. (6 November 2021). "Conference USA adds four teams, James Madison set to join Sun Belt in latest conference realignment moves".
22. (November 28, 2023). "CUSA Adds Delaware, Blue Hens to Join in 2025". Conference USA.
23. (17 January 2024). "Delaware, JMU Announce Four-Game Future Series in Football".
24. (12 July 2025). "CFB 26 Rivalry Network".
25. (April 26, 2025). "Yarns, Herring Sign NFL Undrafted Free Agent Contracts".
26. Frank, Martin. (February 13, 2022). "Troy Reeder is a Super Bowl champion with Rams in matchup of University of Delaware stars".
27. (March 5, 2024). "UFL Player Transactions, Tuesday March 5, 2024".
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29. "Jackson Taylor".
30. "Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com.
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