The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team represents the University of Delaware (UD) in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football as a member of Conference USA. The team is currently led by head coach Ryan Carty and plays on Tubby Raymond Field at 18,500-seat Delaware Stadium located in Newark, Delaware. The Fightin' Blue Hens have won six national titles in their 117-year history – 1946 (AP College Division), 1963 (UPI College Division), 1971 (AP/UPI College Division), 1972 (AP/UPI College Division), 1979 (Division II), and 2003 (Division I-AA). They returned to the FCS National Championship game in 2007 and 2010.

The program has produced six NFL quarterbacks: Rich Gannon, Joe Flacco, Jeff Komlo, Pat Devlin, Andy Hall, and Scott Brunner. The Blue Hens were recognized as a perennial power in FCS football and Delaware was the only FCS program to average more than 20,000 fans per regular-season home game for each season from 1999 to 2010.

In 2023, the program announced it will move into Conference USA and the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) prior to the 2025 season.

History

Early years The program began in the late 1800s, but its tradition did not truly develop until the arrival of Bill Murray in 1940. During his 11 seasons at the helm, the Fightin' Blue Hens compiled a record of 49–16–2 with one National Championship in 1946, which culminated in a win over Rollins in the now-defunct Cigar Bowl. That was good for an impressive .747 winning percentage. After Murray departed to take over at Duke University in 1950, David M. Nelson came on board as head coach.

20th century During his time at Delaware, Nelson developed the Delaware Wing-T offensive system. This system, strongly rooted in running the football and deceptive fake hand-offs, became the identity of Delaware football for nearly 50 years. Nelson also brought with him another icon of Delaware football: the "winged" helmet. The iconic Michigan-style helmet was developed by Nelson's coach at Michigan, Fritz Crisler, who first used the helmet design when he was head coach at Princeton, though in black and orange. Nelson played for Crisler when Crisler was head coach at Michigan, and Nelson brought the helmet design with him to every team he coached (Hillsdale College, Harvard, Maine and Delaware). Nelson stepped down as football coach in 1965, and in his 15 years (1951–1965), the Hens compiled an 84–42–2 (.664) record with one National Championship in 1963 and a bowl win over Kent State in the now-defunct Refrigerator Bowl.

In 1966, an assistant football and baseball coach named Harold "Tubby" Raymond took over, and after a rocky start (the team recorded a 2–7 record in his second season) became the face of Delaware football for 36 seasons. While Nelson developed the Delaware Wing-T, Raymond perfected it. When he retired in 2001, Raymond had racked up 300 wins against 119 losses and three ties, good for a .714 win percentage. His teams earned 14 Lambert Cup Trophies (as the best team in the east in a particular division), four national semi-finals, and three National Championships in 1971, 1972, and 1979. His 300 wins account for nearly half of the football victories in school history. These three men (Murray, Nelson and Raymond) are all enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Georgia Tech is the only other school to place three consecutive coaches into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Notable program victories include multiple wins over Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools Navy (including a win at Navy's Homecoming game during a year when they went to a bowl game), Maryland, Rutgers, and Temple. Speculation regularly exists regarding whether the Blue Hens will "move up" to the FBS level at some point. The University of Delaware has more than 60 wins against opponents playing at the highest level, whether that was FBS (since 2006), I-A, or the University level (prior to 1978). However, whereas most I-AA schools move up because of the perception of increased money and prestige, UD has an extremely profitable football program, and it is already well-regarded academically and athletically.

"We're the LSU; we're the Georgia, the Florida of Division I-AA", Delaware coach K. C. Keeler said in American Football Monthly in September 2004. "We have every resource. There's some people who have better resources than we do, but in general, the college campus we have is in one of the greatest college towns in America, and the academics ... we led the nation last year in out-of-state applications, more than Michigan or Texas. But that's what this school has become – everybody wants to come to school here."

While most schools at the FCS level can expect 8,000–10,000 fans for a football game on a good day, the Fightin' Blue Hens can expect sellout crowds of over 22,000 at every home contest; Delaware was the only FCS program to average more than 20,000 fans per regular-season home game for each season from 1999 to 2010. Since Delaware Stadium opened in 1952, it has undergone four major expansions to come to its current capacity of 22,000 (in the 1970s it actually seated over 23,000, but subsequent modifications have reduced the capacity to the current number).

In 1973, a home attendance record was set on October 27 against Temple University with 23,619 fans, and attendance has exceeded 22,000 fans frequently. When the Fightin' Blue Hens have a home game, the stadium population becomes the fourth largest city in Delaware behind Wilmington, Dover, and Newark. Maine head coach Jack Cosgrove told Keeler that playing Delaware at Delaware Stadium is the highlight of many of his players' collegiate careers because of their large fan support.

21st century

In June 2008, Keeler was granted a 10-year contract extension that was intended to keep him on as head coach of the Blue Hens through the 2017 season. The Homecoming Game versus William & Mary on October 18, 2008, marked the first time in 18 years that the Fightin' Blue Hens did not score a touchdown in a home game. The final score of 27–3 also made Delaware's third straight loss scoring ten points or fewer for the first time since the end of the 1983 season. Delaware's eighth loss, to Villanova University in the final game of the season, ended a season with eight losses for the first time in 117 seasons. The Fightin' Blue Hens were one of only four teams in the NCAA to never lose eight games in a season; the others are Michigan, which lost its eighth game a week before the Hens the same season, Tennessee, and Ohio State.

On January 7, 2014, Keeler was fired following the 2012 season in which his team posted a 5−6 record. Delaware hired Rutgers offensive coordinator Dave Brock as the team's head coach on January 18, 2013.

Brock was unable to maintain any of the success or momentum of his predecessors, could not recruit as successfully as his predecessors, and oversaw a precipitous decline in the program's on and off field fortunes. He became the first head coach in the 90+ year history of Delaware football to be fired in-season, on October 17, 2016. He was replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Dennis Dottin-Carter, who completed the 2016 season. The team never made the FCS playoffs under his tenure. The team hired Richmond head coach Danny Rocco on December 13, 2016. Rocco was fired at the end of the 2021 season.

With a September 7, 2019 victory over the Rhode Island Rams, Delaware became the 39th team in the NCAA with 700 wins.

On December 10, 2021, Delaware named former UD quarterback Ryan Carty as their new head coach. Carty spent 11 years on the New Hampshire coaching staff, and spent 4 years as offensive coordinator at Sam Houston State under Keeler.

On November 28, 2023, Delaware and Conference USA (CUSA) announced that the Blue Hens would begin the transition process to the Football Bowl Subdivision after the 2023 season, to join Conference USA beginning in 2025. UD played in the CAA in 2024, but was not eligible for the FCS playoffs due to NCAA rules for transitioning programs.

Head coaches

Conference affiliations

1889–1945: Independent 1946: Mason–Dixon Conference 1947–1955: Independent 1956–1957: NCAA College Division Independent 1958–1969: Middle Atlantic Conference (NCAA College Division) 1970–1972: NCAA College Division Independent

1973–1979: NCAA Division II Independent 1980–1985: NCAA Division I-AA Independent 1986–1996: Yankee Conference (NCAA Division I-AA) 1997–2006: Atlantic 10 Conference (NCAA Division I-AA/FCS) 2007–2024: CAA Football (NCAA Division I FCS) 2025-: Conference USA (NCAA Division I FBS)

Postseason results Championships National championships (6)

1946 Bill Murray AP (small college) 10–0 Won Cigar Bowl 1963 David Nelson UPI (College Division) 8–0 1971 Tubby Raymond AP & UPI (College Division) 10–1 Won Boardwalk Bowl 1972 AP & UPI (College Division) 10–0 1979 NCAA Division II Playoffs 13–1 Won NCAA Division II Championship 2003 K. C. Keeler NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs 15–1 Won NCAA Division I-AA National Championship Game

Conference championships (17)

1946 Bill Murray Mason-Dixon Conference 10–0 3–0 1959 David Nelson Middle Atlantic Conference 8–1 5–0 1962 7–2 5–0 1963 8–0 4–0 1966 Tubby Raymond 6–3 6–0 1968 8–3 5–0 1969 9–2 6–0 1986† Yankee Conference 9–4 5–2 1988† 7–5 6–2 1991† 10–2 7–1 1992 11–3 7–1 1995 11–2 8–0 2000† Atlantic 10 Conference 12–2 7–1 2003† K. C. Keeler 15–1 8–1 2004† 9–4 7–1 2010† CAA Football 12–3 6–2 2020 Danny Rocco 7–1 4−0 † Co-champions

Bowl games Delaware has participated in twelve bowl games, holding a record of 8–3 in non-Division I bowl games and a record of 1–0 in Division I bowl games.

1946 Cigar Bowl William D. Murray Rollins W 21–7 1954 Refrigerator Bowl David M. Nelson Kent State W 19–7 1968 Boardwalk Bowl Tubby Raymond IUP W 31–24 1969 Boardwalk Bowl Tubby Raymond North Carolina Central W 31–13 1970 Boardwalk Bowl Tubby Raymond Morgan State W 38–23 1971 Boardwalk Bowl Tubby Raymond LIU Post W 72–22 1973 Boardwalk Bowl Tubby Raymond Grambling State L 8–17 1974 Grantland Rice Bowl Tubby Raymond UNLV W 49–11 1974 Camellia Bowl Tubby Raymond Central Michigan L 14–54 1979 Zia Bowl Tubby Raymond Youngstown State W 38–21 1982 Pioneer Bowl Tubby Raymond Eastern Kentucky L 14–17 2025 68 Ventures Bowl Ryan Carty Louisiana W 20–13

Division I-AA/FCS playoffs The Fightin' Blue Hens have nineteen appearances in the Division I-AA/FCS Playoffs. Their combined record was 25–18. They were I-AA National Champions in 2003.