By Andy Walter

DOVER — Bob Neylan knew there were a lot of schools that didn’t take coaching track & field too seriously.

But he did.

When he was coaching Dover High to a record of 107-13 in dual meets from 1973-82, the sport clearly meant a lot to him.

“I took a lot of pride in it because I love track,” Neylan said a few years ago. “And when I got my assistants, they loved track.

“When kids came into our program, they really saw that these coaches cared and it made a big difference in how they performed.”

That love of track & field is what Neylan will probably best be remembered for.

The multiple hall of famer passed away two weeks ago at the age of 79.
Among the halls that Neylan is a member of are the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame, the Delaware Track & Field Hall of Fame and the Delaware Afro-American Sports Hall of Fame.

Neylan, who was also a track & field administrator and official, passed his love of the sport on to his athletes. His teams won four state championships.
Current Senators coach Jim Solomon was a member of Neylan’s first Dover squad in 1972.

“It was his first year so the enthusiasm and the knowledge that he brought across the board — in all events — was impressive,” Solomon once said. “(His enthusiasm) is second to none. I think some of that’s rubbed off on me.”

Mike Meade, who went on to play football in the NFL, says Neylan was “one of the most important and influential people in helping me achieve my goal.”

“Coach was a technician and perfectionist who demanded the same from me and my teammates,” Meade said in a Facebook post several years ago.

Long before he got into coaching, Neylan was a standout hurdler himself at Dover. He won the 120-yard high hurdles state title in 1963, setting a state mark in an open meet of 14.4 seconds.

That record lasted for 11 years.

Neylan then competed in the event for two years at the University of Alabama. He ranked second in the Southeastern Conference in the 300 hurdles, and finished second in the SEC championships in the 120.

A few years later, after serving in the Air Force and attending Wesley College, Neylan found himself as a student athletic trainer at Florida State. When the track coach there discovered that the 28-year-old still had some eligibility remaining, Neylan ran hurdles as a Seminole for one season.

“I thought it was great,” said Neylan. “Here I was an old man. (Coach) Mike Long called me the best ‘hurdler-trainer’ in the United States.”

During his coaching career, Neylan was chairman of Delaware’s high school state track &field committee for 11 years and director of the state meet for 13 years.

Neylan is recalled for other things he did in his life, of course.

People who grew up in town remember him working for the City of Dover Parks & Recreation and organizing playground competitions between different neighborhoods. He was also an evidence technician with the Dover Police Department from 2001-2014.

Track & field was always his first love, however. Through Dover Parks & Rec, he started a summer youth track program that’s still going after 25 years.

And, at Dover, Senator runners have won over 30 state championships in the various hurdle distances.

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