A’Khoury Lyde received scholarship offers from nearly 20 Division I football programs in high school.
Lyde landed at the University of Wisconsin, where he red-shirted as a freshman last year while recovering from a knee injury.
Now Lyde and all that potential are cloaked in a University of Delaware uniform and vying to start at cornerback, a position where Delaware must replace three proven players. Justis Henley, Amonte Strothers and Riah Burton combined to play in 117 games with 36 starts the last three years.
The Blue Hens regularly snare transfers from other Division I programs, including 13 set for their first season here. Rarely, however, has Delaware had one as widely wooed as Lyde, who also had recruiting visits to Boston College, Pitt and Duke.
“He is a really good football player,” Delaware defensive coordinator Manny Rojas said.
“You saw it in high school film. I think now he’s getting back into form of being a corner and being able to transition and run with guys and play up to his talent. We’re really excited to see what he does there.”
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Lyde and another Division I transplant, Tyron Herring, have often manned the starting cornerback spots during preseason drills as Delaware preps for its Aug. 31 opener at CAA rival Stony Brook.
Herring, from Delray Beach, Florida, arrives with valuable experience, having intercepted a pass and made 49 tackles in 18 career games at Dartmouth, where he earned a starting spot last year.
Lyde, however, hasn’t played in a real game since tearing his ACL in the opener of his senior high school season. He enrolled early at Wisconsin in the winter of 2022 but was still coming back from the knee injury in the fall. Lyde took part in 2023 spring drills with the Badgers but, with some new coaches in place, felt his future would be best spent elsewhere.
While other schools expressed interest, Lyde said, only Delaware offered a scholarship.
“I didn’t feel as though it was a good fit for me to stay there,” Lyde said. “So I entered the portal and Delaware was the first team that hit me up. I just felt great to come here. Great facilities, great coaching staff, great culture.”
It didn’t hurt that Lyde had already built a strong connection training with fellow Paterson, New Jersey, resident Mike Adams, the safety and captain of Delaware’s 2003 NCAA title team. After signing as a free agent and beginning his career on the practice squad, Adams played 16 NFL seasons and appeared in two Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl. He is now the New York Giants assistant special teams coach.
Lyde termed Adams “a mentor” who “knew it would be a good fit for me,” Lyde said.The 5-foot-9, 185-pound Lyde is now trying to translate his physical tools into the difficult job of covering potential pass catchers.
“Learning how to read formations, recognize formations, learning the routes in those formations,” he said of his main challenges.
First-year Delaware cornerbacks coach and defensive pass game coordinator Corico Wright touted Lyde’s qualifications. At DePaul Catholic in New Jersey, Lyde intercepted seven passes and returned two for touchdowns in his career and was also a standout receiver.
“He is a super, super athletic kid who has a tremendous amount of potential,” said Wright, a former Clemson linebacker who came to Delaware from Furman’s staff. “He has a long way to go in terms of his development as a player but the best is yet to come.”
As for Dartmouth transplant Herring, he also has experience playing safety but has settled in at cornerback at Delaware, bringing nice size – 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds – to the field.
Herring majored in government at Dartmouth and met Delaware Gov. John Carney, who played football for the Big Green, at a team function. Now pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at Delaware eyeing a future in law or elected office, Herring first figures to bring valuable experience to the UD secondary.
Ironically, Herring was deciding between Furman and Delaware as a transfer destination before Wright’s move.
“I told coach Wright when I took my visit [to Furman], ‘I’m going to Delaware but, coach, if you were anywhere else I’d play for you.’ I wanted somebody who could coach me up and really correct the small details to get me to that next step. The way God made it work out he came to Delaware so it was awesome.”
The two cornerbacks are expected to be among the most impactful among Delaware’s Division I transfers about to begin their first season with the Blue Hens in 2023. These are the other 11:
Keyshawn Hunter, DL, Old Dominion
The 6-foot, 275-pound Hunter has quickly settled into the nose guard spot in Delaware’s starting defensive line and is poised to be a key player. A Big Ten and ACC recruit in high school in Washington, D.C., Hunter had seven tackles in eight games in 2022 for ODU.
“He’s a tough, physical kid,” Rojas said. “I love him.”
A 3-man front requires a rugged player at the nose and Hunter “gives us that,” Rojas said. “ . . . I like everything he does. He’s a leader vocally. He’s tough as nails and I think he’s really going to be able to anchor our front seven the way he plays football.”
Alex Schmoke, K, Saint Francis
Delaware will not have the concerns in the kicking game it had last year when it made just two field goals on eight tries in the first 10 games, with Schmoke arriving. The two-time first-team All-Northeast Conference pick was 33-for-39 on field goals and 73-for-79 on extra points the last two years.
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Ryan Kost, P, Monmouth
Kost was first-team All-CAA last year at Monmouth averaging 48.1 yards per punt with a dozen 50 yards or longer. He has a 44-yard average in 39 career games.
Kym Wimberly, WR, Harvard
Wimberly was a second-team All-Ivy pick in 2022 after catching 51 passes for 603 yards and 4 TDs. He had 86 receptions for 1,065 yards and 8 TDs over his Crimson career.
Wimberly quickly became a key part of the Hens’ passing attack in spring practice and preseason practices also indicate he’ll be a top target.
Joshua Youngbood, WR, Rutgers
Youngblood has the potential to be a big-play addition for the Blue Hens. He caught 12 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown and returned 13 kicks for 285 yards in two seasons with the Scarlet Knights.
But he opened his college football career in prolific fashion at Kansas State as a freshman in 2019, running back three kick-offs for touchdowns to earn All-American citation and starting three games at wide receiver.
JoJo Bermudez, WR, Cincinnati
Bermudez initially committed to home-state Rutgers while at Cedar Creek High but signed with Cincinnati after being rated one of the country’s top 100 wide receivers in the high school class of 2022.
Limited by a knee injury and surgery, he didn’t play in any games last fall for the Bearcats before transferring to Delaware. He also didn’t appear in the UD spring game while still healing but has shown play-making ability as a pass catcher and returnman in camp.
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“I believe I’m in a good spot,” he said. “I believe that I’ve recovered well, being at Delaware. I’m moving faster than I was before.”
Bermudez had 3,128 career receiving yards on 183 receptions including 12 for 235 yards in Cedar Creek’s 2021 South Jersey Group III championship win.
“He’s dynamic with the ball in his hands, “UD receivers coach Terence Archer said. “We love his speed and every day he’s getting better. I think the sky’s the limit for JoJo.”
Marje Mulumba, LB, Stonehill
Mulumba was a second-team All-Northeast Conference outside linebacker last year as Stonehill climbed from Division II to FBS. He had 53 tackles plus team highs of nine tackles for lost yardage and 3½ sacks in nine games. He’d been an All-Northeast 10 All-Rookie pick in 2021.
At Delaware, Mulumba has some schematic adjustments to learn moving inside, said position coach Rocco DiMeco, but has likely earned snaps.
“He’s a quick-twitch, run-and-hit kid. He’s physical,” said DiMeco, who was coaching at LIU last year and saw Mulumba in person.
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Nick Karika, DL, Wagner
Karika speared in seven games and made four tackles, one for lost yardage, last season at Wagner and will likely be part of the Blue Hens’ defensive line rotation.
Khalil Dawsey, DB, Harvard
Dawsey was an honorable-mention All-Ivy pick last year at Harvard after closing a career in which he intercepted two passes, returning one for a TD, and made 39 tackles in 21 games. He hasn’t yet taken part in preseason drills as his transfer is finalized but is expected to be a key part of the Hens’ secondary.
Zack Taylor, LS, Rutgers
Taylor got into one game in his two seasons at Rutgers and is among those vying to replace four-year starter Jake Reed.
Colson Goodwill, DB, Bryant
Goodwill appeared in one game over two seasons at Bryant and aims to be part of the Hens’ depth in the secondary.
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