Results a priority for next University of Delaware football coach

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NEWARK — Chrissi Rawak admits it.

If she had it to do over, the Delaware athletic director would still hire Danny Rocco again.

And why not?

When Rawak hired Rocco in 2016, the veteran coach was in the prime of his career. He had just led Richmond to the NCAA Division I FCS semifinals the previous fall and reached the playoffs three seasons in a row.

Not only had Rocco been successful at both his stops as a head coach (Richmond and Liberty), but he knew how to win in the Colonial Athletic Association.

“Everything that I saw in him, and the successes at Richmond and Liberty, were all the things we were looking for in a head coach,” Rawak said on Monday. “That was obviously a really important part of that hire, as well as the work he’s done in building culture and programs and the values and things that he focused on. Again, I would make the same decision.”

On Monday, Rawak had to make the decision that Rocco — in her opinion — wasn’t the right man for the Blue Hens after all.

When she hired Rocco, Rawak had been Delaware’s athletic director for six months. Now, as she starts looking for her second football coach, Rawak has been on the job for five years.

But the Michigan grad said that her search wouldn’t be “significantly different.”

“I think I’ve learned a few things,” said Rawak. “I’m really focused in on the expectations here and somebody that really understand what that means. They (the expectations) are high and we need to deliver.

“The national search starts immediately,” she added. “You’ve seen me do searches before. It becomes my number one priority. Everything after today, the focus turns completely in that direction. I hope to go, obviously very thoughtfully, but very quickly.”

There was a time when firing a Delaware football coach was unheard of.

In 1950, Bill Murray turned the program over to Dave Nelson. In 1965, Nelson turned the program over to one of his assistants, Tubby Raymond.

In 2001, Raymond retired after 36 seasons at the helm.

But now Delaware has fired three head football coaches just since 2012. That means this will also be the program’s third coaching search in that span.

What is Rawak looking for this time? Clearly, winning is now a priority for the Blue Hens and the next head coach.

Rocco finished with a record of 31-23 at UD but was a combined 10-13 in his last two fall seasons. Rawak pointed out Rocco’s 1-7 record against two of its biggest rivals, Villanova and James Madison.

Rawak said the school expects a bigger return on the increased investment it’s made in the program lately.

The athletic director is looking for “someone that really understands the traditions of football and what we have here and is able to really maximize that talent.”

“Somebody that thrives under very high expectations and really applies the pressure versus feels the pressure,” she continued. “They can really meet those expectations and not shy away from that. They come in here really understanding what it means to be here at Delaware.”

Given Delaware’s tradition, there’s always a push among some Blue Hen fans to hire a coach with ties to the program. There’s no shortage of message board posters who would love to see former coach K.C. Keeler brought back from Sam Houston State.

While Rawak agreed that she’s not going to limit the search to only former UD players and coaches, she said having a connection to the program wouldn’t hurt, either.

“Again, I think Delaware is a really special place,” she said. “If there’s a possibility of somebody who has been here and understands that in any capacity, that’s a plus. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be learned.”

Rawak said that long-time Delaware football/athletics administrator Jerry Oravitz and Chris Stewart, the program’s strength and conditioning coach and an associate AD, will lead the program until a new head coach is hired.

Rawak is also well aware that the early national signing day for high school recruits is Dec. 15.

“My phone has been ringing off the hook and my email has been blowing up,” she said on Monday afternoon. “This is a special job. People know that, they understand it. They know what football means here, they know the talent we have here. They know the investments we’ve made here.

“It’s a job that people are going to want and rightfully so.”

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