By Andy Walter

NEWARK — It looks like K.C. Keeler may not be Delaware’s next football coach after all.

The Sam Houston State coach tweeted that he won’t be a candidate for the Blue Hens’ opening.

“Let’s put this to rest #BearKatNation,” Keeler tweeted. “I have not and will not interview for the UD opening. Love my KATS!”

Of course, there have been coaches who denied being a candidate for a job only to be hired later.

There are clearly a number of Blue Hen fans who would love to see Keeler return after taking Delaware to three national championship games between 2003-2010.

But if Keeler really isn’t a candidate for the Delaware job, it may because the UD leadership isn’t interested in hiring back a coach it gave a significant buyout to when he was fired in 2012.

There are other coaches with ties to the Blue Hens who may be interested in applying for the Delaware job.

Probably the most prominent coach in that group is Kyle Flood, who is now the offensive coordinator at Texas. He was the offensive line coach on the Hens’ 2003 national championship team.

Since then, Flood has been the head coach at Rutgers as well as an assistant at Alabama.

At Wake Forest, which is having one of its best seasons ever, there are three high-level assistants with Delaware connections. That list includes assistant head coach Dave Cohen, offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero and defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill.

Ruggiero is a former UD quarterback while Cohen and Hemphill are former Blue Hen assistants.

And if Delaware isn’t going to hire Keeler, it could still hire his current offensive coordinator, former Blue Hen QB Ryan Carty, who was also an assistant at New Hampshire.

While Delaware athletic director Chrissi Rawak hasn’t set a deadline publicly for hiring a new coach, the early national signing day for football is on Dec. 15.

Several Blue Hen players have entered the NCAA transfer portal since coach Danny Rocco was fired on Monday. Many have said they may stay at Delaware but want to keep their options open.

Standout linebacker Johnny Buchanan added his name to that list today while quarterback Nolan Henderson, the Smyrna High grad, most recently tweeted that he has an offer from FBS Connecticut.

Follow Andy Walter on Twitter at @DSNSports.