By Andy Walter

NEWARK — Ryan Carty never got to be the starting quarterback at Delaware.

He ended up as the backup to three Division I transfers during his career in the mid-2000s.

So, sure, there were a couple times when Carty considered transferring and maybe finding a Division II program where he’d have a better chance to play.

But he always decided to stay with the Blue Hens.

“I didn’t want to leave Delaware,” Carty said. “I loved my time here ... and my buddies and being around the guys. It (transferring) wasn’t worth it for me.”

On Monday, Carty officially returned to the Delaware football program as its new head coach — a job a lot fewer men have held than starting QB for the Hens.

The 38-year-old former Sam Houston State offensive coordinator is just the seventh full-time head football coach at UD since 1940. He’s also the youngest Delaware head coach since 31-year-old Dave Nelson was hired in 1951.

At a gathering of media, season-ticket holders and university staff in the Whitney Athletic Center on Monday morning, Carty said he wasn’t sure if he’d ever become a head coach at the college level. But, if he did, Delaware was the place he wanted to be.

“No, I didn’t think this would happen,” said Carty. “Not that I didn’t want it to happen. (But) there’s 128 FCS jobs in the country to be a head coach and I’m one of them. So the odds weren’t in my favor.

“But I certainly desired to do something like this. This place is so special to me that the minute there was an opportunity to do it, I attacked it. I knew how much it meant to me — and how much it meant to the people I played with and the people that have played before me — to be able to get a Blue Hen back and try to go win some championships.”

With the NCAA’s early fall signing day coming up on Wednesday, Carty may have already landed his biggest recruit.

Quarterback Nolan Henderson, who had several offers after entering the NCAA Transfer Portal, said Monday that he’ll be staying with the Hens.

Carty was actually the first college coach to offer Henderson a college scholarship, when he was only a sophomore at Smyrna High. At the time, Carty was the offensive coordinator at New Hampshire.

“Looking back, I guess I’ve known him the longest out of any college coach,” said Henderson, who attended Monday’s announcement. “So it’s neat to kind of come full circle.

“I’m excited. I think his energy, his vision for the program, just his mentality all together — attacking, being aggressive — especially where I come from, my view of football matches his. You have to attack. You can’t wait to take a punch, you’ve got to throw the first punch.

“I’m happy,” said Henderson. “You hear the rumors of who the candidates are. I was rooting for him. We had a great meeting.”

There was a lot of talk on Monday about getting the Hens back to a more aggressive, creative style of football. That’s especially true on offense, where Carty has coached for his entire career.

While he hasn’t hired any of his staff yet, Carty said he would be calling plays for Delaware. Of course, more offense might also put more fans in the stands — something that’s been a growing problem for Delaware lately.

“We need to make sure the fans are there for the players and the players are playing hard for the fans,” said Carty, who was a member of the Hens’ 2003 national championship team. “A lot of it is about product, right? We’re going to have kids that play their butts off and we’re going to go get some wins.”

UD athletic director Chrissi Rawak said she talked to 10 candidates and actually interviewed four for the position. She said she flew about 5,000 miles in her search.

Rawak said Carty’s aggressive approach to football was definitely a plus for him.

“It was clear based on my own observations and in talking to a lot of other people, that was an important component to this hire,” she said. “It’s one of many. But there was no question that having somebody that was going to provide that energy and excitement. ... it was even feedback I got from the players.

“They were really looking for somebody that was going to come in and create a different kind of energy that allowed them to attack and play aggressive and smart.”

Delaware president Dennis Assanis said he told Carty there were three things he wanted to see from the Hens with him as coach.

Assanis said he wanted to “create an exhilarating experience” at Delaware Stadium for both the fans and players.

“We want to see everybody come back to the stadium,” he said.
Assanis said he also wanted to see “long seasons with double-digit wins.” He also said that “every year, I pledge that we want to win a very important game. And that’s Villanova.”

Finally, Assanis concluded, “we want to return the University of Delaware’s football program to its rightful place.

“Back to greatness,” he concluded. “We do want to earn a trip to the championship game within four years or less, Ryan.

“Those are the three simple things I asked for,” Assanis said as the crowd broke into laughter. “I’m not demanding. We believe that Ryan is going to be great coach.”

While Carty never got the chance to play much as a Blue Hen player, he did accomplish at least one pretty notable thing. Despite not being a starter, he was voted a team captain as a senior in 2006.

Delaware hopes that kind of leadership will get the program back on track.

“As sincerely as I can say it, I am so excited, humbled, thankful to be blessed with an opportunity to come back home,” said Carty. “This Blue Hen family matters to me.”

Follow Andy Walter on Twitter at DSNSports..