Delaware has a splendid sports history.
During the last two years, Delaware Online/The News Journal has capsulized the First State’s prolific past with two epic lists.
Last year, we published a collection of Delaware’s all-time 100 greatest teams, a compendium of winners who left the most indelible marks on teammates, fans and followers.
That followed our 2021 recognition of the state’s 100 most accomplished athletes. It was a tribute to more than a century’s worth of icons who graced our landscape by excelling at their games, scoring victories, stirring emotions and instilling memories.
Those athletes and teams, of course, needed coaches. Now, we have assembled an honor roll for them. Many guided the athletes and teams on our previous lists.
We learned that 100 names was not enough and expanded this list to 125, though it certainly could have been larger.
They have been divided into five sections of 25. Here are the 101st through 125th all-time greatest Delaware coaches:
125: Feffie Barnhill
A Tatnall School graduate, Barnhill was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2006 after coaching at William & Mary and on the staff for the U.S. Women’s Lacrosse World Cup winning team. She later returned home and served on the Tower Hill staff before becoming head coach at Ursuline, where she remains.
124: Jimmy Hagan
Hagan was 118-26 in seven years as basketball coach at his alma mater, Salesianum. He then steered Conrad for six years, with a Blue Hen Conference Flight A title and state-runner-up finish in 1969, when Conrad was 19-3 and Hagan was voted state Coach of the Year.
123: Lou DiMascio
DiMascio steered Ursuline to the first four Division II cross country titles from 1984-87 but made most of his headlines after he took over as coach of the Raiders’ basketball team. Ursuline went 85-10 under DiMascio from 1982-86 with three title-game appearances and 1985 and ’86 titles. He later assisted for Wilmington’s 1987 state championship boys team and led Caravel and Delcastle boys teams.
122: Bill Doyle
Doyle served a pair of stints as football coach at Archmere Academy, from 1975-82 and 1988-2000. He was voted state coach of the year in 1977 and 1998 as his Auks went 138-80-3, won 1979, 1980 and 1982 Division II state championships and reached five other title games.
121: Curtis Brock
Brock served a long stint as baseball coach at the Delaware Technical & Community College’s Georgetown campus through 2017, providing many First State players with a competitive post-secondary opportunity. His teams won nearly 600 games, several NJCAA Region 19 championships and the 2001 national title.
120: Bob Dowd
The football stadium at Seaford High bears the name of Dowd, who coached Seaford teams to a 84-31-1 mark from 1946-1960. He was 1955 state coach of the year after the Blue Jays’ 9-0 season.
119: Jim Wentworth
Wentworth was basketball coach at Wesley College for 40 years, a span covering its 1980s transition from a junior college to a 4-year school. His teams won 502 games, with the 1965-66 squad going 24-3 and being ranked 10th nationally. The Wolverines were Eastern States Athletic Conference Tournament winners in 1987 and 1988.
118: George Schollenberger
The football coach at Laurel High from 1929 through 1965, Schollenberger had five unbeaten teams in those 37 seasons. He was state Coach of the Year in 1957 when the Bulldogs outscored foes 222-12 while going 7-0. He coached Delaware’s only athlete inducted to the National Federation of State High School Associations’ Hall of Fame, Ron Waller.
117: Frank Coveleski
Before the consolidation of Sussex County schools in 1969, Coveleski coached football, basketball and track at Rehoboth High before moving to the new Cape Henlopen to be athletic director. He was 91-68-14 as Rehoboth football coach, his boys basketball teams went 152-48 and he also guided the girls basketball squad to a 91-31 mark. He also coached the track team to the Henlopen Conference title in 1964.
116: Jim Sherman
The former William Penn High and UD standout coached the University of Delaware baseball team to a 606-532 record from 2001-22. Sherman’s Blue Hens were 2001 America East champs before moving to the Colonial Athletic Association. Delaware shared the 2007 regular-season title and won the 2017 CAA Tournament. Sherman also coached what was then Wilmington College to a 218-128 record from 1987-94 and two NAIA World Series berths.
115: Ralph Baird
The former P.S. du Pont High basketball standout coached his alma mater to the 1971 state finals before moving to Cape Henlopen, where he steered the Vikings to the 1975 and ’76 state championships and return title-game trips in 1979 and ‘80. His teams went 187-44 at Cape.
114: Marty Apostolico
The former Wilmington High and University of Delaware sports star returned home after a stellar stint coaching Pittsburgh Central Catholic High teams in 1967 to become Dickinson football coach. He led the Rams to a 92-45 record through 1981 and was state Coach of the Year in 1972 and 1980, when Dickinson was Division I state champ.
113: Roy Rigby
Rigby coached Milford to a 44-6-1 dual-meet wrestling record from 1977-81 and was state coach of the year three of those four seasons. The Buccaneers were state champions in 1980 and 1981, with the latter winning individual titles in six of the 12 weight classes.
112: Barb Viera
Viera was University of Delaware women’s volleyball coach for 27 years and logged a 682-429-4 record. Her teams reached the AIAW nationals twice and the National Invitational Volleyball Championships two other times. The 1979 Blue Hens were Eastern AIAW champs. Viera was a 4-time conference coach of the year and a 2003 American Volleyball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee.
111: Mel Gardner
Gardner coached William Penn’s baseball team for 30 seasons from 1981-2010. The Colonials went 370-208 and reached five state championship games, winning the 1991 title. Gardner was a nine-time Flight A Coach of the Year and the 2006 Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year.
110: Laura Capodanno
Capodanno made Ursuline Academy the basketball powerhouse it has remained at the inception of girls sports, going 195-40 in 11 years as coach and winning the 1974 and 75 state titles. The Raiders also won five straight titles in the rugged Catholic Conference from 1972-76.
109: Jerry Kobasa
Kobasa was two-time Henlopen Conference and two-time state boys basketball coach of the year while guiding Smyrna and Sussex Tech teams to a 222-111 record and several Henlopen Conference championships. He became Wesley College coach in 2005-06 and, over 10 seasons, guided the Wolverines to four NCAA Division III Tournament berths and the 2009 Capital Athletic Conference title.
108: Vinnie Scott
After starring in several sports at Salesianum and football at the University of Maryland, Scott was a fixture on the First State coaching scene for years. He was 111-81-3 as football coach at Delcastle (1982, 1986-90) and St. Mark’s (1992-2004), guiding Delcastle to the Flight A title in 1987 and St. Mark’s to three state championship games. He also coached the basketball teams at Salesianum, Conrad, Glasgow and McKean and was state Coach of the Year in 1972 at Conrad.
107: Edgar Johnson
Before beginning a 25-year stint as University of Delaware athletic director in 1984, Johnson had great success as UD swim coach, especially leading the women’s team from 1979-84. The Blue Hens won 42 straight meets and placed ninth at 1981 AIAW national championships. He was also men’s cross country coach from 1971-79.
106: Albert B. “Buddy” Clark, Jr.
The Wilmington High grad returned home after a U.S. Marine Corps stint and attending Lafayette College to become a premier basketball coach. He started at Sanford before landing at Wilmington’s P.S. du Pont, which he steered to three Blue Hen Conference titles and was twice state Coach of the Year. He then moved to Mount Pleasant which he guided to the first state tournament title and a 20-1 record in 1967.
105: Fran Fulghum
Fulghum coached Newark baseball teams to a 233-114-1 record from 1967 through 1987. The Yellowjackets won the first two state baseball tournaments in 1970 and 1971, two others in 1974 and 1984 and also reached the 1978 final. He had players chosen for the All-State team 21 times.
104: Jules “Ace” Hoffstein
Hoffstein brought national attention to Goldey Beacom, then a junior college, in the 1950s while going 86-14 in basketball. He moved to St. Elizabeth High and was state coach of the year in 1965 while going 138-28 over 11 years through 1966. He then coached on college and professional teams and eventually became a nationally prominent shooting coach.
103: Bob Behr
Behr was Tower Hill School track and field and cross country coach from 1962 to 1981. He also coached Delaware Track & Field Club teams that excelled regionally and nationally and had four Olympic Trials qualifiers. His Hillers set eight state track records, including J.D. Carroll’s 6-11¼ high jump that remains, by far, the oldest state mark. His foursomes won four Penn Relays titles. Tower Hill won three state titles each in track and cross country under Behr with more than 60 individuals champs and went 160-28-2 in dual meets.
102: Rick McCall
McCall may be Delaware’s most distinguished golf coach, having guided many of the state’s best during 40-plus years at Maple Dale Country Club. He coached Wesley College to seven conference championships, with Chris Noll winning the 2002 NCAA Division III title. McCall was 2003 NCAA Division III Coach of the Year. His Maple Dale Junior teams won 23 Delmarva Peninsula Championships in 25 years. His pupils stocked the Dover High teams that won 17 state titles from 1979 to 2003. He also guided NCAA All-American and LPGA pro Heather Bowie.
101: Jackie Pitts
The Sanford School graduate who later taught and coached there was a long-time starter on the U.S. national women’s lacrosse team and also served 10 years as its coach, including guiding the Americans to the title at the first world championships in Nottingham, England, in 1982, with a 10-7 overtime finals win against Australia.
Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com.
