Dante Jones has known Curtis Thomas for about 20 years.

Former DSU player and assistant coach Curtis Thomas will keep Dover running the spread offense and using the same terminology as he takes over the Senators’ offensive coordinator position this fall. (Delaware State University photo)[/caption]

The two men are both former Delaware State football players.

So when Jones, the third-year Dover High football coach, needed to find a new offensive coordinator, it only made sense for him to hire Thomas.

Thomas had been a DSU assistant for the past 15 seasons but wasn’t part of the new Hornet staff brought in by first-year coach Kenneth Carter.

“His background and experience in the game of football is vast,” said Jones. “To be on the college level for that many years — plus being a top receiver himself coming out — he has a great mindset for the offense. It just fits with what we’re trying to do.”

Thomas replaces Colin Thomas, who was the Senators’ offensive coordinator for the past eight seasons before recently taking a coaching job at an Arizona high school.

Curtis Thomas will keep Dover running the spread offense and using the same terminology. The Senators will be led by senior quarterback Triston Harris, who returns for his second season as the fulltime starter.

Dover averaged 25.6 points a year ago.

“I’ve been through changes with offensive coordinators,” said Jones. “So I had a good feeling what I was looking for and I had a very, very short list. I was just happy to get Curtis on my list.

“He’s going to try to not change a lot of terminology and things like that. When you’re dealing with high school kids, you don’t want to come in and just start everything over. We’re going to build on top of what we’ve been doing at Dover High.”

At DelState, Thomas coached the Hornets’ top three all-time reception leaders — Shaheer McBridge, Justin Wilson and Travis Tarpley. As a player, Thomas was a member of DSU’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship team in 1991 and earned second-team All-MEAC honors in ‘94 when he caught 44 passes for 823 yards with eight touchdowns.

Beron is CR’s new AD

Bob Beron is pretty excited to be the new athletic director at Caesar Rodney.

The 33-year-old former Wesley College soccer player was recently hired to replace Mike Schonewolf, who stepped down after holding the job since 2006.

“When the job opened up, I knew I wanted it,” said Beron. “I was going for it. I was doing everything I could to put myself in the best situation to earn the position.

“I love sports. I love watching student-athletes be successful on the field. It’s one of my major passions — anything dealing with athletics and sports just kind of drives my motor.”

Beron was previosly the AD at Dover’s Campus Community High from 2006 to ‘10. The New Jersey native has been at CR since 2010, working as an assistant coach in boys’ and girls’ soccer while also helping out with athletic event management.

Even though he wasn’t officially an athletic director, Beron remained active with the Delaware Association of Athletic Directors.

CR has had just three athletic directors since 1980 — Schonewolf, Jim Harvey and Joe Vrundy. Beron would like to think he learned some things about the job from Schonewolf.

“He was a great mentor and an absolute excellent role model,” said Beron. “I’m a very organized person. All my ducks are in a row.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to make Caesar Rodney athletics as successful — if not more successful — than they’ve been in their 99 years.”

Notes

Polytech High is in the process of setting up interviews for its vacant football coaching position. Kevin Smith stepped down after two seasons so he could become the school’s athletic director. ... Dover High state champion Mykele Young-Sanders placed 10th in the boys’ 110-meter hurdles at the New Balance Nationals track & field meet last weekend in Greensboro, N.C. ... The winners of the DIAA’s Harry Roberts/Senior Scholar Athlete awards for the 2014-15 school year were, female: 1-Kelsey Mendell (Sanford), 2-Ann Marie White (St. Mark’s) and 3-Hannah Uebele (Milford); male: 1-Kevin Sheahan (Caesar Rodney), 2-Chase Rapine (Sanford) and 3-Andrew Kacmarcik (St. Mark’s).