By Andy Walter

DOVER — Bryan Bossard, the former Dover High football standout who went on to spend his life coaching the sport, passed away this morning.

Bossard’s older brother, Eric, made the annoucement on social media.

Bryan Bossard, who was the offensive coordinator at Delaware State this fall, was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in late September. He also suffered two strokes. He was only 55 years old.

Bossard was on the sidelines when Delaware State played his alma mater, Delaware, on Sept. 10.

In 2003, Bossard was an assistant coach on the Blue Hens’ NCAA Division I-AA national championship team. He had been a standout cornerback for Delaware.

As a senior, Bossard led the Hens with 122 tackles and earned the team’s defensive Most Valuable Player and All-Yankee Conference second-team honors.

Tripp Keister, who first met Bossard when he was a baseball player at Delaware in the mid-1980s, was saddened to hear the news. Keister said the first thing he thought about was how Bossard loved his two teenage sons.

“He would tell me how proud of his sons he was,” said Keister, the former DSU and Wesley College coach. “I really respected the man he was and father he was.

“We’ve been friends since college. I looked up to him. ... Every year, when he was recruiting and he was near one of my teams, he would come watch a game. Or he’d come out to practice when he was around. I have great memories.”

Bossard made a number of stops during his coaching career, working as an assistant at Morehouse, Bucknell, Pittsburgh, Maryland, Wyoming and Army along with three stints at Delaware and then DSU.

He also coached at Caesar Rodney High in 2017 and ‘18. As offensive coordinator in 2018, Bossard helped the Riders go 7-4 and reach the DIAA Division I state tournament.

“He was definitely a coach who cared about the kids,” said CR coach Dan Candeloro. “He cared about their growth. He always tried to be great and always pushed kids to be the best they could. A lot of kids were lucky to have him.

“He was definitely in it for the right reasons when he came back to us. He gave us a nice little spark there. He taught us all — kids and coaches — some good stuff. We were just happy to have him around for the few years we did.”

In 2020, Bossard was hired by DelState coach Rod Milstead as an assistant. He evntually became offensive coordinator.

During its 28-7 win at Norfolk State on Saturday, DSU’s players had stickers with ‘Coach Bo’ on the back of their helmets.

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at 302-741-8227 or walter@iniusa.org. Follow on Twitter at @DSNSports.