ATHLETICS DIRECTOR LETTER

Dear UD Athletics Fans:

Welcome to another exciting season of Blue Hen Football! Throughout last year’s 8-3 season, which included a National Championship game, the energy across the UD campus—and into the national spotlight—was palpable.

That energy carried into pre-season, first with the signing to a 10-year contract extension of Head Coach K.C. Keeler, who has led the Blue Hens to an overall record of 52-26 over six seasons, the 2003 national title, the 2007 national runner-up spot, three NCAA Tournament appearances, and two conference titles; and then in Football season ticket sales, when, several months before our Football season was scheduled to begin, we surpassed last year’s season ticket sales total, with 11,302 season ticket packages sold—and counting.

With the completion of our athletics facilities assessment, and recommendations for enhancements underway— including plans for a new Student-Athlete Performance Center, with an expansion of the weight training facilities, and a sports medicine clinic, the UD Athletics community is embarking upon the first steps toward a dynamic future. Across all Blue Hen sports, and beyond the playing fields, UD Athletics has achieved tremendous success.

All 23 University of Delaware sports teams exceeded the minimum scores required in the NCAA Academic Progress Report (APR). Blue Hen Women’s Soccer, Men’s Tennis, Women’s Tennis, and Men’s Cross Country teams each earned special recognition for outstanding performance. Three student-athletes (Volleyball, Football, and Swimming) were named CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while two student-athletes from Football were named to the ESPN The Magazine/College Sports Information Directors of America District 2 All-Academic team.

Five UD Football players were selected to the Consensus Draft Services website Pre-Season NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision All-American team, giving Delaware more players honored than any other Colonial Athletic Association team, and five members of the UD Women’s Rowing squad were honored with a spot on the 2008 NCAA Division I Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association National Scholar-Athlete Team, in part, by maintaining a 3.5 or higher cumulative grade point average, and having rowed in a minimum of 75 percent of the team’s spring races.

Ten University of Delaware student-athletes from spring sports teams were selected as their team’s 2008 Blue Hen Team Sportsmanship Award winner for this past season, a program that honors those student-athletes who have been outstanding role models and displayed outstanding sportsmanship towards their teammates, coaches, opponents, and game officials.

These and many other tremendous successes of our student-athletes simply would not have been possible without your support. If you are reading this letter, and you have a connection to UD Athletics, please know that our student-athletes are counting on you to help them succeed. Your commitment as a charter member to UDAF’s newly formed Blue Hen Club will have a dramatic impact on the quality of our programs, and we are grateful for your active and ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Edgar N. Johnson
Director of Athletics