Much is expected of the University of Delaware football team under first-year coach Ryan Carty in 2022 and it’s apparent rival Colonial Athletic Association coaches also have a high regard for the Blue Hens.
Delaware is second behind defending champ Villanova in the CAA preseason poll announced Thursday morning. The Blue Hens snared seven of the available 26 first-place votes in balloting by league head coaches/media relations directors.
Rhode Island, Richmond and William & Mary round out the top five.
The Blue Hens are beginning their first season under Carty, the former back-up UD quarterback who has spent the last 15 years on the New Hampshire and Sam Houston staffs, the past 10 as offensive coordinator.
The expanded 13-team CAA now includes newcomers Monmouth and Hampton, who each moved from Big South football, with North Carolina A&T set to follow next fall.
This came in the wake of James Madison, the CAA’s best team most of the past eight seasons, moving up to the FBS-level Sun Belt Conference.
Five Blue Hens were named to the All-CAA preseason team – wide receiver Thyrick Pitts, defensive linemen Artis Hemmingway and Chase McGowan, linebacker Johnny Buchanan and safety Kedrick Whitehead, the Middletown High grad. Honorable mention went to quarterback Nolan Henderson, the Smyrna alum, safety Noah Plack and returnman Jourdan Townsend.
“We do have that pressure there, but we also have the capability to back it up,” Carty said of being rated so high.
“It’s about people right? It’s about our players. There’s a ton returning here [from] what was a very good defense. With Nolan coming back from his injury [after missing the final seven games in 2021 due to abdominal surgery], as we all know and we’ve proven time after time, in our offenses that we’ve been a part of, it’s about our quarterback, too, and our quarterback is one of the best in the league.’’
Delaware opens preseason camp Aug. 5 with its sights set on the 2022 opener at Navy on Sept. 3 (noon on CBS Sports Network).
The first home game follows against Delaware State a week later at 6 p.m. The CAA opener at Rhode Island is 1 p.m. Sept. 17.
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Delaware is coming off a 5-6 season, just the program’s 14th losing record in the last 79 seasons but eighth since 2001. It cost coach Danny Rocco his job after five seasons.
Yet the roster still has many of the players who were part of the spring 2021 season – which replaced the 2020 campaign put off due to the coronavirus pandemic – in which Delaware was CAA champ and reached the FCS playoff semifinals while finishing 7-1.
That was just the second UD postseason appearance in 10 seasons, following a 2018 trip in which Delaware lost a first-round matchup at JMU. Once NCAA playoff regulars, Delaware has long aimed to restore its legacy as an FCS-level powerhouse.
Delaware has been 15th (HERO Sports) and 20th (Athlon) in a pair of preseason FCS rankings. The STATS PERFORM preseason media Top 25 poll comes out in August.
CAA preseason football poll
(Voting by league head coaches/media relations directors)
- Villanova (16 first-place votes), 270 points
- DELAWARE (7), 235
- Rhode Island, 224
- Richmond, 219
- William & Mary (2), 206
- Elon (1), 191
- Stony Brook, 151
- Maine, 134
- New Hampshire, 117
- Monmouth, 105
- Towson, 81
- Albany, 64
- Hampton, 31
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