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Here at Delaware, athletics take a backseat to almost everything else in student life. If not for the heavy support from university alumni and surrounding residents, some of our athletic programs may have been cut, just as the football programs at Northeastern and most recently Hofstra (both former CAA opponents; see sidebar on right) have.
Thankfully for us as a student body, Delaware has a community fan base that’ll root for the teams whether the student body pays attention or not, keeping the programs afloat. Many programs have undergone changes in the past decade which have led to successes great enough to rally the student body, while other changes have consequently ruined any chance of student interest.
Delaware’s most popular sport, football, has changed drastically during the decade. 2001 marked the end of an era with the retirement of head coach Harold “Tubby” Raymond after 36 years of running the show that is Blue Hen football. His retirement made way for Delaware alumnus K.C. Keeler to take over at the helm, which has led to mostly positive things for the program.
Under Keeler, the Hens were A-10 co-Champions in 2003 and 2004, and won the NCAA I-AA Championship in 2003 in just his second season. After reaching the quarterfinals of the ’04 NCAA playoffs, 2005 and 2006 were generally disappointing seasons missing the A-10 tournament all together.
Then came 2007, and although the regular season ended with the Hens tied for third in the CAA South, the Hens pulled off multiple upsets throughout the playoffs and made the trip to Chattanooga for their second chance at a championship in five years.
Although the game ended in a disappointing loss, many Hens fans are left with images of Joe Flacco and Omar Cuff working together as one of the best tandems in Blue Hens football history. The departures of Flacco and Cuff, along with numerous offensive and defensive linemen, left the Hens at the bottom of the totem pole, missing the playoffs in both 2008 and 2009.
Football’s exciting 2007 season was just element of a really great year for some of Delaware’s best sports programs. Sharing the fall limelight with the football team was the best volleyball team head coach Bonnie Kenny has ever coached at Delaware. The squad finished an impressive season at 31-5 and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after being crowned CAA Tournament Champions. Later in the winter, Tina Martin’s women’s basketball team saw their first NCAA Tournament berth.
Perhaps the most exciting Delaware sport in 2007 was men’s lacrosse. Coached by Bob Shillinglaw, now in his 30th season as head coach, the Hens finished 13-6 and third in the CAA. Shillinglaw’s squad stole the CAA Tournament Championship with their surprising resilience, but the Hens were far from done.
They continued their unbelievable season into the NCAA Tournament, where they were eliminated by Johns Hopkins University in the Final Four. This was a turning point for the lacrosse program, and ever since they have been held to a higher standard than most Delaware athletics programs.
Hopefully the end of the decade won’t bring the end of the success these current coaches have had. Keeler has a strong football team returning for next season, with young running backs Leon Jackson and David Hayes helping quarterback Pat Devlin in their return to the playoffs. Tina Martin has gained a future WNBA All-Star in Elena Delle Donne, and Shillinglaw still has a competitive core group that could do some damage in the post season.
With that kind of talent, next decade’s success stories could start as early as next year. Get your blue and gold ready.
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