By Andy Walter

NEWARK — Danny Rocco didn’t really do anything wrong in his five seasons as Delaware football coach.

His teams simply didn’t win enough games.

And with the amount of money that the university had invested both in him and the football program, that wasn’t good enough for him to remain Delaware’s head coach.

On Monday, UD athletic director Chris Rawak announced that Rawak was being fired with one season left on his contract.

The fact that the Hens reached the NCAA FCS Division I semifinals in a COVID-impacted spring season — when Rocco was named the Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year — didn’t change the fact that Delaware went only 10-13 over the last two fall campaigns.

“It’s not an easy day here at Delaware,” Rawak said in a video conference call with reporters. “One of the things I want to be really clear about is that Danny has done a lot of wonderful things for our program.

“At the end of the day, the expectations that we have here at Delaware for winning championships year in and year out, at the conference level and at the national level, is real. Those are the expectations that we have here at Delaware. Those are the investments that we make here at Delaware. And those are things that we fell short on.”

The 61-year-old Rocco, who was reportedly one of the highest-paid coaches at the FCS level, finishes with a record of 31-23 at Delaware with a 20-16 mark in CAA games. Including the spring season, his teams made two FCS playoff appearances.

The university has made upgrades to Delaware Stadium, which included the building of the Whitney Athletic Center. But the Hens’ home attendance has been dwindling, although it was still higher than most FCS programs nationally.

Only 8,391 fans came out for a home game against Dixie State. That was the lowest attendance for a fall UD home game since 1967.

With most of its roster returning from the spring, Delaware was ranked No. 5 in the country in the fall preseason. But the Hens finished only 5-6 when their season ended on Nov. 13.

Delaware went just 2-5 in its last seven games this fall. The Hens also finished only 5-7 in 2019.

Those last two fall seasons were the only two losing campaigns of Rocco’s head coaching career. In his 16-season career, Rocco’s teams are 121-65.

The Hens did lose some players to injuries this fall, most notably standout quarterback Nolan Henderson. The Smyrna High grad, a first-team All-CAA pick in the spring, missed the final seven games after undergoing abdominal surgery.

When he talked to reporters in a post-season media session on Nov. 15, Rocco said he was optimistic about next season with Henderson’s expected return. He talked about trying to get back to the playoffs in the fall.

“I don’t know, I think these guys are kind of like, ‘Things didn’t work out for us this fall,’” Rocco said at the time. “‘We didn’t play as well as we could have or should have. We had some adversity. We lost some key guys. It is what it is. We want to get back to that moment (in the playoffs).’

“And the best way to get back to that moment is getting back to basics and us focusing on the best version of us that we can be. Because a lot of these guys have that taste in their mouths and we all want to get back to those moments.”

Standout linebacker Colby Reeder, expected to be one of the Hens’ top players next year, entered the NCAA transfer portal on Monday for his final season of eligibility.

Judging from social-media messages, Rocco seemed to have the support of his players.

“Simply, Danny Rocco was the man for that locker room,” senior receiver Gene Coleman wrote on Twitter. “If you weren’t in it, you cannot speak on it.”

“I don’t think people understand the cultural turnaround that man started,” wrote former linebacker Dominick Covatto. “Forever grateful Coach.”

Rawak said Rocco will be paid his final year’s salary out of the university’s athletic department funds.

Rawak, who hired Rocco after firing Dave Brock in mid-season 2016, gave him the news on Monday morning.

“As you can imagine, he was incredibly disappointed and sad,” she said.

The Delaware AD also met with the football players as a whole and then with its leaders.

“I talked about, ‘This is their program and we need them to step in and lead in a way that what’s necessary in this moment,’” said Rawak.

The rest of the coaching staff will remain in their jobs until a new head coach is hired, said Rawak. She also said that she didn’t know of any other players entering the transfer portal at this time.

For a program that had only three football head coaches between 1940 and 2001, Delaware has gone through a lot of changes in the last decade.

Since K.C. Keeler was fired after the 2012 season, the Hens have had three head coaches: Brock (2013-16), Dennis Dottin-Carter (2016, interim) and Rocco (2017-21).

After having just two losing seasons between 1968-2000, Delaware has also gone through eight losing seasons since then.

“Obviously it’s a very difficult day for the players,” said Rawak. “It’s a difficult day for us. I’m confident, though, that this is the right decision for us as we move forward.

“I feel like we had five years here at Delaware with Danny as the leader and the investments that we made. And those expectations just weren’t met.”