Delaware

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Delaware Lands Commitment From Four-Star QB Julian Reese IIour readDelaware cusa championship shortened — implied probability moved from 14.4% to 19.0% (+4.7pp) between Sep 13 and Sep 14, 2026 (tier C).our read

Conference USA · Ryan Carty, year 2 (8-7) · Delaware Stadium · 22,000 · 17,268 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#40 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #99 (-7.6) · FPI #81
The marketDelaware by 5vs Coastal Carolina · our model 92% Delaware · a number, not a pick

LastL 26–35 at Vanderbilt · Sat Sep 12 · Colin Gallagher 1.5 sacks, 2.5 TFL, 9 tackles

Nextvs Coastal Carolina · Sat Sep 19 · 11:30 am ET · Delaware Stadium · Delaware by 5 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist statureRegional Program V#144 all-time– holding
one line from Regional Program IV
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

11 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 71-59 11 seasons
Best season 9-2 2024
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 11 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 6-6 '15 — '16 — '17 — '18 7-5 '19 5-7 '21 — '22 8-5 '23 9-4 '24 — '25 7-6

Delaware's 2014–2025 record is 71-59. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.546
Ranked seasons (AP)
0/11
Best AP finish
—

Program outlook

Delaware has six national titles, a Wing-T offense that defined a coaching era, and two alumni with NFL MVP trophies. It arrived in the FBS in 2025 and immediately won a bowl game it wasn't even guaranteed to be invited to.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

Tubby Raymond coached Delaware for 36 seasons, won 300 games, and perfected the Wing-T — a run-first, deception-built offense that carried the program to national titles in 1971, 1972, and 1979. Three more titles (1946, 1963, 2003) round out six across program history, more than almost any team that's ever made the jump from FCS to FBS.

The quarterback pipeline is the other half of the case: Rich Gannon won the NFL MVP in 2002 and led Oakland to Super Bowl XXXVII, becoming the first Blue Hen to start a Super Bowl. Joe Flacco set twenty school records in just two Delaware seasons before going in the first round in 2008 — and in 2013, threw for three touchdowns with zero interceptions across the entire playoffs, tying Joe Montana's record, on his way to Super Bowl XLVII MVP honors in a 34-31 win over San Francisco. Flacco's own Delaware team had come agonizingly close to a title of its own, losing the 2007 FCS championship game 49-21 to Appalachian State.

Delaware announced the move to Conference USA and the FBS back in 2023, and made the jump in 2025 under fourth-year coach Ryan Carty. The debut season went 6-6 (4-4), and under NCAA transition rules the Blue Hens weren't even supposed to be postseason-eligible — until the sport came up short on six-win teams and handed them an at-large bid anyway. They took it and won: 20-13 over Louisiana in the 68 Ventures Bowl, becoming just the second program ever, after Jacksonville State in 2023, to win a bowl game in its first FBS season. Six national titles, two NFL MVP-caliber quarterbacks, and now a bowl trophy earned in the first year anyone outside the CAA had to actually watch them play.

On the field

Nearly four decades of the Wing-T set a program-defining identity built on misdirection and disciplined run-blocking; the post-Raymond eras have leaned more on quarterback play (Gannon, Flacco), and Ryan Carty's FBS-era offense is the newest chapter still being written.

program outlook · as of 2026-07-03

All-time record · Delaware

Delaware has won 54% of its games since 1903 — 66% at home, 40% on the road.

204-172-1 all-time · 86 seasons · 1903–2026

Home 111-57
Away 66-100-1
Neutral 27-15
3 g 1900s
7 g 1910s
4 g 1920s
5 g 1930s
9 g 1940s
8 g 1950s
38% 1960s
57% 1970s
76% 1980s
5 g 1990s
63% 2000s
53% 2010s
62% 2020s

Coaching Era · Delaware

Ryan Carty

Ryan Carty in year 2 of the rebuild. The methodology is taking shape.

Era Ryan Carty · 2025–presentOC: Terence ArcherDC: Manny Rojas
The full CFP-era story →
2 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

Rich Gannon's 2002 MVP season

Gannon wins the NFL MVP and leads Oakland to Super Bowl XXXVII, the first former Blue Hen to start a Super Bowl

2003 Division I-AA national championship

Delaware's most recent national title

2007 national championship game loss

Joe Flacco's Blue Hens reach the FCS title game and fall 49-21 to Appalachian State

Heartbreak

2013

Joe Flacco's Super Bowl XLVII MVP

Flacco throws three touchdowns without an interception across the postseason, tying Joe Montana's record, and leads Baltimore to a 34-31 Super Bowl win over San Francisco

2025 68 Ventures Bowl championship

Delaware beats Louisiana 20-13 in its first-ever FBS bowl game, becoming the second program ever (after Jacksonville State) to win a bowl in its FBS debut season

Moment of the season — so far · Delaware · 2026

Won 42-7 vs Merrimack

Week 1 of 2026. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.

Decisive Margin

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

Delaware is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Ryan Carty2025
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Delaware’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2025–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2025–2026 · Terence Archer
Defense2025–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2025–2026 · Manny Rojas
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

The rituals that anchor a Saturday in this program's world.

The Delaware Wing-T

since 1966

more

Developed by Raymond's predecessor and perfected across Tubby Raymond's 300-win, 36-season tenure (1966-2001), the Delaware Wing-T -- a deceptive, run-first system built on misdirection and fake hand-offs -- won three of the program's national titles (1971, 1972, 1979) and defined Blue Hens football for a generation.

The NFL Quarterback Pipeline: Gannon and Flacco

since 1987

more

Delaware has produced six NFL quarterbacks. Rich Gannon won the 2002 NFL MVP and led Oakland to Super Bowl XXXVII, the first former Blue Hen to start a Super Bowl. Joe Flacco set 20 school records in two seasons at Delaware, became a first-round pick in 2008, and was named Super Bowl XLVII MVP after leading Baltimore to a 34-31 win over San Francisco in 2013.

The First FBS Season and Bowl Win (2025)

since 2025

more

Delaware joined Conference USA and the FBS in 2025 under fourth-year head coach Ryan Carty, finishing 6-6 (4-4). Technically ineligible for the postseason under FCS-to-FBS transition rules, the Blue Hens received an at-large bowl bid anyway due to a shortage of six-win-eligible teams -- and won the 68 Ventures Bowl 20-13 over Louisiana, becoming just the second program ever (after Jacksonville State in 2023) to win a bowl game in its first FBS season.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2023-2025): 2-1

Most recent: 2025 — win 20-13 (home). Last 5 postseason: 2-1.

202520232023
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

582
[Postgame Thread] Delaware Defeats Navy 14-7
Sep 2022 · r/cfb
386
[Postgame Thread] WKU Defeats Delaware 27-24
Oct 2025 · r/cfb
222
[Postgame Thread] South Dakota State Defeats Delaware 33-3
May 2021 · r/cfb
183
[Postgame Thread] Delaware Defeats Delaware State 35-17
Aug 2025 · r/cfb

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