Delaware State fires football coach Milstead

By Tim Mastro
Posted 11/28/22

Delaware State University football coach Rod Milstead was fired Monday, according to an announcement by athletic director Alecia Shield-Gadson

Milstead, a Delaware State alum and one of the best …

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Delaware State fires football coach Milstead

Posted

DOVER — Delaware State University football coach Rod Milstead was fired Monday, according to an announcement by athletic director Alecia Shield-Gadson

Milstead, a Delaware State alum and one of the best players in school history, had coached the Hornets the past five season and compiled a 17-33 overall record and a 7-18 mark in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in five seasons as head coach of the Hornets. Delaware State was 5-6 overall and fourth in the six-team MEAC standings with a 2-3 conference record this past season.

Veteran assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Jeff Braxton will serve as interim head coach until further notice, according to Shields-Gadson.

“We thank coach Milstead for his service to our football program and the university the past five years and wish him well in his future endeavors,” said Shields-Gadson. “The university will soon begin a national search for a new head football coach.”

For a program whose last winning season was in 2012, Milstead had come the closest to turning the Hornets into contenders again.

His squad posted back-to-back records of 5-6 in 2021 and 2022 — the highest win total for Delaware State since 2013.

Milstead was hired in January of 2018 to replace Kenny Carter who went 3-30 in his three seasons at the helm. He came to Delaware State from La Plata High in Maryland, where he was been the head coach since 2015. Milstead’s only collegiate coaching experience was as offensive line coach at North Carolina Central in 2013 and with the Hornets under former coach Kermit Blount in 2014.

Milstead’s reputation with the university made him a popular hire. He is a member of the Delaware State Athletics Hall of Fame after a storied playing career with the Hornets.

The Hornets won at least a share of the MEAC three out of four years while Milstead was a starter on the offensive line. Milstead was an All-MEAC first team selection three times and was an All-American in 1991.

Milstead went on to be selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1992 NFL Draft. He won a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers and later played for the Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins.

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