Head Coach: Ryan Carty is entering his 4th season as the head coach of the Blue Hens with a 26-11 record. He led Delaware to the FCS playoffs in his first two seasons before not being eligible during the transition last season. Now he takes on his next big challenge, leading the Blue Hens to FBS.
Program Outlook: It’s an exciting new era for Delaware football. This is a program that has an invested fanbase and they were one of the top FCS programs. The move to the FBS level makes the Blue Hens the first FBS team in the 1st State. There may be a small adjustment period but Delaware is a program that could soon become of the top CUSA programs.
How does the 2025 Roster look?: Delaware ranks 130th in the country returning 32.5% of their production per Punt and Rally’s returning production rankings. However, their rating is partially downgraded because they consist of players that played in FCS last year. Delaware has a surprising depth for a program that’s just moving up, they might be able to thank Flo Sports for this, their games were so impossible to access that the bigger programs couldn’t figure out what players to steal. The Blue Hens offense played well last season and is led by a strong Oline, OT Anwar O’neal is the best of that group. The Blue Hens lost a stud back in Marcus Yarns but last year’s backups are ready to play. Delaware used both Zach Marker and Nicholas Minicucci at QB last year and it worked they combined for 20 TDs and only 3 picks, Minicucci threw all 3 of those but he’s also the more mobile of the two QBs. The defensive will be led by nose tackle Keyshawn Hunter up front, he’s on the smaller side but can get it done against the run and the ends around him are expected to be pretty good too. Leading tackler LB Gavin Moul is back and they get a nice addition with Dillon Trainer back from injury. The secondary is led by KT Seay and a group of safeties that will be one of the best in the conference, corner Nate Evans is a good one as well. The main questions for Delaware will be their receivers, Phil Lutz their star is gone and while there’s a lot of guys who were involved there’s no obvious top target here. Delaware’s defense needs to find who their leading pass rushers will be and find who their best corners are outside of Evans.
Screenshot from FBSchedules.com
2025 Schedule Thoughts: Delaware faces a pretty tough schedule to open their first FBS season. The Blue Hens non-conference opens with an in-state battle against FCS foe Delaware State, the Hornets have struggled for a long time but this game is DeSean Jackson’s debut as their head coach. Delaware also has tough games against Colorado and UConn along with a game against Wake Forest. The Blue Hens got a really rough CUSA draw they play all the top teams and don’t get to play fellow FBS call-up Missouri State, or 2024 call-up Kennesaw State.
Final Thoughts: Delaware is going to be a fun team to watch this year. They have been building for this season and they are ready to be competitive right away. This year is all about the foundation, there’s a wide range of results possible here. I can see Delaware winning anywhere from 4 games to finishing with a winning record.
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