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. We already published No. 101-125.
Here are the 76th through 100th all-time greatest Delaware coaches:
100: Dave Stover
Stover coached St. Mark’s to the 1985, 1995 and 1996 state volleyball titles before moving to the new Charter School of Wilmington where he’d later lead the Force to the state finals for the first time in 2014 and its first volleyball state title in 2018.
99: Joe Hemphill
Hemphill was St. Elizabeth football coach for 42 years through 2014, guiding the Vikings to 1994, 1996 and 2010 Division II state titles, two other championship games and a 237-180-13 record.
98: Rob Maegerle
Maegerle coached Saint Mark’s to four girls swimming state titles from 1999-2002, left and then returned to guide the Spartans to three more from 2005-07.
97: Jim Fischer
Fischer coached University of Delaware men’s cross country and track and field teams to five conference titles and 12 second-place finishes over 30 years until the programs were dropped in early 2011. He later coached the track and cross country teams at Ursuine Academy, guiding the Raiders to three straight Division II state championships in cross country from 2018-2020, their first since 1998, and 2016, 2018 and 2021 outdoor track Division II titles.
96: Greg Jackson
Jackson coached Delaware State University’s men’s basketball team to the only sustained run of success in its history. The Hornets won three straight MEAC regular-season titles from 2005-07. They snared their only MEAC Tournament title in 2005 and went to the National Invitation Tournament in 2006, winning their first game, and 2007.
95: Bill Cole
The P.S. du Pont High and University of Delaware star athlete went on to coach William Penn football teams for 25 years. The Colonials went 148-71-10 overall, had four unbeaten seasons and were 45-2 from 1952-56. Cole was 1962 state coach of the year and winning coach in the inaugural Blue-Gold All-Star game in 1956. He also coached basketball and baseball.
94: Phil Shultie
Shultie had the tough task of replacing his wrestling coach, Herm Bastianelli, at Sussex Central. In 41 seasons in that position through 2017, Shultie’s Golden Knights won a record 432 dual meets and the 2008 and 2017 state titles with a slew of individual successes also.
93: Nick Papanicolas
Papanicolas has guided the Wilmington University men’s soccer team to a 210-113-38 record over 19 seasons. The former Saint Mark’s and Rowan striker has had five teams win Central Collegiate Athletic Conference titles and sent six teams to the NCAA Division II Regionals. He is 6-time CACC coach of the year.
92: Brian August
The former Saint Mark’s, Delaware and minor-league player has spent 19 years as Wilmington University baseball coach and won 522 games. The Wildcats have made 10 NCAA Division II regional tournaments and won nine tournament titles in the Central Collegiate Athletic Conference under August, a 3-time league coach of the year. His 2015 team reached the Division II World Series.
91: Lou Olivere
Olivere steered Ursuline to the 1987 and ’88 state Division II outdoor track titles, then 10 more in a row from 1991 through 2000. The Raiders also won six Division II cross country titles in 1989 and 1994 through 1998. Olivere also coached the Salesianum boys to state indoor titles in 1992 and 1996. He was a 7-time state Coach of the Year.
90: Jason Bastianelli
Following in the footsteps of grandfather Herm and uncle Steve, Bastianelli kept Saint Mark’s prominent in wrestling as coach from 2003-10. The Spartans went 78-22 in duals, won 23 state individual titles and 2009 and 2010 state team titles with squads that were nationally ranked. He was USA Wrestling national coach of the year in 2010.
89: Steve Johnson
Johnson steered Saint Mark’s to a stunning upset of heavily favored Newark in the 1989 state final. After a brief fling with college coaching, he guided William Penn to three straight finals from 1998-2000, winning in 1999. He then moved to Ursuline Academy for two years, guiding the Raiders to the 2003 state championship with 8th-grade phenom Elena Delle Donne.
88: Marcus Thompson
Thompson starred on Sanford teams in the mid-1980s and in college at Brown before returning to his alma mater to coach. He became head girls basketball coach in 2004-05 and has guided the Warriors to nine state title games since 2010 with five victories, including in 2023.
87: Spencer Henry
Henry sprinted on Penn Relays championship teams at Howard High and Morgan State before also excelling as a coach. He guided Wilmington High track and field team to as 93-7 dual-meet mark over 10 springs and 1977 and ’78 state Division I titles before moving to Dickinson, which was 1983 Division I champ and 1985 Division II titlist.
86: John Noonan
Noonan was instrumental in the development of Elena Delle Donne as personal coach for the Ursuline Academy and University of Delaware All-American, WNBA MVP and Olympic gold medalist. Since becoming Ursuline coach himself in 2008-09, he has steered the Raiders to five state finals with four victories.
85: Kurt Howell
The unbeaten 4-time state wrestling champ at Newark was equally adept as a coach at Indian River from 1995-2004 and Smyrna from 2004-18. He guided Smyrna to the 2005 state Division II title and, up with the bigger schools, the 2013 through 2016 Division I crowns. He coached 19 wrestlers who won 29 state titles, including Smyrna 4-time champ Brent Fleetwood.
84: Lou Bender
Bender won a state record 509 games coaching boys high school basketball with stops at five schools beginning at Salesianum in 1968 followed by Delcastle, A.I. du Pont, Caravel and Hodgson. In between, he was Wilmington University coach from 1987-89. His 1982 Delcastle and 2002 Hodgson teams reached the state finals and his squads won six Blue Hen Conference championships. Bender was voted Eastern Regional Coach of the Year in 1990 by the National High School Coaches’ Association while turning A.I. into a state power.
83: Frank Aiello
Aiello guided St. Elizabeth to nine state girls basketball finals from 1977-88, including titles in 1979, 1982 and 1985. The Vikings went 222-38 during that stretch. He also coached St. E from 1992-96 and again in 2013-14, which ended with a 10th championship game berth, in and around stints as Goldey-Beacom coach and Wilmington University athletic director.
82: Ian Hennessy
Hennessy took over a University of Delaware men’s soccer program that had endured 19 losing records the 20 previous years when he was hired in 2006. He guided Delaware to the 2011 Colonial Athletic Association Tournament title and an NCAA tourney win at defending champion Virginia. Delaware won the CAA regular-season title in 2014, another CAA Tournament championship in 2016 and snared NCAA Tournament berths in 2013 and 2016 on teams featuring Guillermo Delgado, a four-time All-American from Spain who set UD scoring records.
81: Willy Miranda
A member of Delaware’s 1970 College World Series baseball team, Miranda coached numerous high school sports but made his mark in field hockey. Over 38 seasons, he guided Brandywine to more than 450 wins, a multitude of conference titles and four state championship games, highlighted by the 1987 state title.
80: Bob Colburn
Colburn was the baseball coach at St. Andrew’s School for 55 seasons from 1961 to 2016, his teams winning 440 games and eight Independent Conference titles. He was state coach of the year four times and also instrumental in the creation of the Blue-Gold all-star game, Carpenter Cup and other efforts aimed at improving players’ recognition and opportunity.
79: John Coveleski
Covelski has been one of the state’s most versatile and successful coaches, guiding championship football, baseball and lacrosse teams at both the high school and college levels. He led Caesar Rodney to nine Henlopen North titles as football coach, skippered CR baseball to the 1981 and ’83 state finals and steered the Riders’ lacrosse team to three late 1990s state titles. He was also offensive coordinator at Delaware State and started Delaware Tech’s lacrosse team.
78: Dave Hearn
Delmar High’s football coach since 1991, Hearn has steered the Wildcats to seven Division II state championship games and five titles – in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2017.
77: Steve Baker
Baker became Caravel Academy softball coach in 1989 and built it into the state’s premier program that it has remained under other coaches since. Baker steered the Bucs to their first state title in 1991 before Caravel became the first school to win three straight softball titles from 1999-2001. His teams went 203-65.
76: Robert Hoffman
Hoffman was football coach at Newark from 1959-71 before his sudden death at age 41. His teams went 93-24-2 with four unbeaten seasons, including a 28-0 stretch from 1966-68. Newark won six Blue Hen Conference Flight A titles and ended Middletown’s 53-game winning streak in 1967, when Hoffman was National High School Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year.
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.
