Delaware Blue Hens appear in preseason CAA football poll

Another football season looms and with it comes an all-too-familiar question.

Can Delaware finally shed its reputation as a competitively mediocre member of its own league?

The CAA may have a new name. But the Coastal — formerly Colonial — Athletic Association’s preseason football coaches’ poll has a rather typical look.

William & Mary, which garnered 13 of the 15 first-place votes, and New Hampshire, the 2022 co-champs, are first and second in the summer assessment (see entire poll below).

Delaware was picked fourth, while receiving one first-place vote, and will pursue a top-five finish with a completely reconstructed defense and a veteran offense led by an unproven quarterback. A slew of transfers and perhaps some incoming freshmen will be counted on to bolster the Blue Hens.

Wide receiver Jourdan Townsend and a pair of transfer specialists — kicker Alex Schmoke and punter Ryan Kost —were Delaware’s lone preseason All-CAA picks. Honorable mention choices were the Brose brothers — offensive lineman Fintan and tight end Braden — along defensive lineman Chase McGowan.