• K.C. Keeler Year by Year Coaching Record
• Video Webcast of Press Conference

Updated 6/1/09

The University of Delaware football program turned to one of its own on March 5, 2002 as former Blue Hen standout linebacker K.C. Keeler was introduced as the new head coach. At the press conference announcing his hiring, the energetic Keeler vowed to bring championships back to the University of Delaware. It took him only two seasons to fulfill those promises.

The 2003 squad capped a magical year by posting a 15-1 record, capturing a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference title, and sweeping through the NCAA I-AA playoffs to win the 2003 I-AA national title. He followed that up with another Atlantic 10 Conference title and a berth in the NCAA I-AA quarterfinals to highlight the 2004 campaign.

Keeler led Delaware on yet another run at a national championship in 2007 as the Blue Hens posted an 11-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision title game before falling to three-time defending champion Appalachian State 49-21 in Chattanooga, TN.

For their efforts, the Blue Hens were named the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Team of the Year for the 11th time in school history and received the Lambert Cup, symbolic of Eastern football supremacy, for the 19th time.

Delaware, one of five Colonial Athletic Association teams to qualify for NCAA play, made a memorable run through the playoffs, downing in-state rival Delaware State 44-7 in the opening round before posting impressive road wins over previously undefeated and top-ranked Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals (39-27) and over No. 4 seed Southern Illinois in the semifinals (20-17).

Keeler's feats did not go unnoticed as he received the prestigious Maxwell Club Tri-State Coach of the Year for the second time, becoming the first coach to earn the award twice, and received the All-American Football Foundation Johnny Vaught Head Coach Award. Individual honors also came pouring in for Keeler's team members with NCAA scoring leader Omar Cuff earning consensus first team All-American accolades at running back. Record-setting quarterback and ECAC Player of the Year Joe Flacco and offensive tackle Mike Byrne were also among eight total Blue Hens who earned All-American mention.

Led by Flacco and Cuff, the Blue Hens were among the nation's top offensive units, leading the CAA in scoring offense (36.2, 11th in the NCAA), total offense (460.6), and passing (289.5). Among the wins was a thrilling 59-52 win at NCAA I Navy where the Hens piled up 581 yards against a Midshipmen team that advanced to the Poinsettia Bowl.

Flacco moved on to become Delaware's first-ever first round National Football League draft choice in 2008 when he was picked by the 18th overall selection by the Baltimore Ravens. He was an instant hit in Baltimore and started all 16 games in his rookie year, leading the Ravens to a spot in the AFC championship game being selected in a fan vote as the 2008 NFL Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Year.

In addition to Flacco, other current NFL players who played for the Blue Hens under Keeler are Arizona Cardinals second-year tight end Ben Patrick and Cleveland Browns fifth-year defensive back Mike Adams. Patrick caught a touchdown pass in the Cardinals' Super Bowl XLIII loss to Pittsburgh in February.

Keeler was rewarded for his outstanding success June 19, 2008 when he was granted a 10-year contract extension that will keep him on as head coach of the Blue Hens through the 2017 season.

“K.C. is one of the nation’s finest young coaches and we are pleased to be able to reward him with a contract that will keep him on the sidelines with the Blue Hens for many years to come,” said University of Delaware Director of Athletics Edgar N. Johnson in making the announcement. “He has continued the winning tradition of University of Delaware football and kept the Blue Hens among the elite not only in the Colonial Athletic Association but nationally in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision. His energy and enthusiasm for the program is contagious and his positive relationships with his coaches, players, fans, the community, and alumni have continued to move the University forward. We are excited to see what the next decade will bring through his leadership of our football program.”

“K.C. Keeler’s skills and leadership are matched by his commitment to our athletics program and our scholar-athletes,” UD President Patrick Harker said. “I look forward to being able to rely on Coach Keeler’s enthusiasm and ability as the University moves forward on its Path to Prominence, which recognizes the importance of athletics as part of an engaged student body.”

In seven seasons at the helm of the Blue Hens, Keeler owns an impressive overall mark of 56-34 (.622), including a mark of 32-26 (.552) in league place. In 16 seasons overall as a college head coach, his mark stands at 144-55-1 (.722). In those 16 seasons as a head coach, including a nine-year stint at NCAA Division III Rowan (N.J.), Keeler has led his team to the NCAA Tournament an incredibile 10 times and has won his first round game each time. Remarkably, his teams have advanced to the national championship seven times. Of his 34 losses at Delaware, 19 have been by just seven or less points.

Keeler already ranks No. 3 on the all-time Delaware football coaching win list, trailing only his college coach, Tubby Raymond (300), and David Nelson (84). This past season he pulled ahead of Bill Murray (49). Raymond, Nelson, and Murray are all members of the College Football Hall of Fame.

The Blue Hens, who in 2003 won the sixth national title in school history, the first since winning the 1979 NCAA II championship, and its first ever crown in I-AA, completed the most dominating playoff run in I-AA history. Delaware outscored its opponents by a combined margin of 149-23 and posted the first ever championship game shutout with a 40-0 blanking of previously unbeaten Colgate in the national title game in Chattanooga, Tenn.

In addition to the NCAA and Atlantic 10 titles, Delaware was also honored with the Lambert Cup Trophy and the ECAC Team of the Year award as the top team in the East and also was honored as the area Team of the Year by the Philadelphia Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association and the state Team of the Year by the Delaware Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association. In addition, the team was ranked No. 1 in the final The Sports Network and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 polls.

Four Delaware players earned All-American honors led by consensus first teamers in quarterback Andy Hall, offensive guard Jason Nerys, and defensive end Shawn Johnson. Record-breaking running back Germaine Bennett also earned All-American recognition. Hall was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award as the top player in NCAA I-AA football. Keeler himself finished fifth in the balloting for the Eddie Robinson Award as the I-AA Coach of the Year.

Delaware combined talent, heart, and character to post one of the finest seasons in college football history. The Blue Hens ranked among the national leaders in scoring offense (9th at 34.7 ppg) and scoring defense (5th at 15.44) and enjoyed an incredible +19 mark in turnover margin, good for sixth best in I-AA.

The Hens lost just one game all season, a 24-14 setback at Northeastern Nov. 8, and posted a perfect 10-0 record at home. Among the wins were thrilling comeback victories of 22-21 at New Hampshire, 21-17 at I-A Houston Bowl participant Navy, 24-21 over Maine in overtime, and 51-45 over Massachusetts in triple overtime. The Hens clinched their first Atlantic 10 title since 2000 with a last-minute 20-17 win at rival Villanova.

As the No. 2 seed in the I-AA tournament, Delaware swept through the field, defeated Gateway Conference co-champions Southern Illinois (48-7) and Northern Iowa (37-7) in the first two rounds before dispatching No. 2 seed and Southern Conference champion Wofford (24-9) in the semifinals. That win earned the Hens a berth in the I-AA title game where they dominated previously unbeaten Colgate, the Patriot League champion that entered the game having won 21 straight games.

The Hens came almost as close during the 2004 season. Delaware posted a 9-4 record, captured its second straight Atlantic 10 Conference title with a 7-1 mark, and advanced to the NCAA I-AA quarterfinals before falling to William & Mary 44-38 in double overtime.

Keeler, 49, who was a three-year starting linebacker for the Blue Hens in 1978-80 and led the team to the NCAA Division II national title before becoming one of the nation's most successful coaches on the NCAA Division III level, replaced Harold R. "Tubby" Raymond, who announced his retirement following a College Football Hall of Fame career that saw him serve as head coach for 36 years and become only the ninth coach in college football history to record 300 victories.

Keeler led his first Blue Hen team to a record of 6-6 in 2002, including a mark of 4-5 in Atlantic 10 play for a sixth place finish. Despite a .500 record, his rookie season was anything but uneventful. The youthful Blue Hens defeated three top 15 and NCAA I-AA Tournament teams during the year (Georgia Southern, Northeastern, and Maine) and lost its six games by a combined total of just 26 points.

The Hens posted a 5-1 record at Delaware Stadium, including a 22-19 win over then No. 5 ranked Georgia Southern in the season opener Aug. 29. Delaware followed with wins of 27-10 over No. 11 ranked Northeastern and 37-13 over No. 5 Maine and ended the season with a 38-34 setback to No. 13 Villanova when the Wildcats drove 75 yards to score the winning touchdown with 15 seconds left.

The 2002 season was full of near misses and tough breaks. Due to injuries and inexperience, 43 different players started at least one game.

Keeler became just the fourth head coach to the lead the Blue Hens since the 1940's, following the footsteps of College of Football Hall of Fame inductees Bill Murray (1940-50) and David Nelson (1951-65) and certain future Hall of Famer Tubby Raymond (1966-2001). Keeler is just the fourth University of Delaware alumnus to lead the football program, joining Ira L. Pierce (1896), Clarence A. Short (1902, 1906), and Joseph J. Rothrock (1927-28).

Serving as head coach at Rowan (formerly Glassboro State College) for nine seasons, Keeler developed a dynasty in small college football. Known as an outstanding offensive innovator, he is Rowan's all-time leader in coaching wins with a record of 88-21-1 and his winning percentage of .801 is fourth among all active coaches at that level of football.

Keeler took his teams to the national semifinals in seven of his nine seasons and to the national championship game (Stagg Bowl) five times. He took his head coaching position after one season as an assistant coach at Amherst (Mass.) College and seven years as an assistant at Rowan, five of them as an offensive coordinator.

"I'm absolutely delighted that K.C. Keeler will be the next head football coach at the University of Delaware," said Raymond, who coached Keeler for four seasons, including the 1979 national championship campaign. "He is a natural for the job. He has a proven track record and he is a Delaware man from our football family. I'm anxious to be fan. As a player he was a very aggressive guy, an emotional player, and a good leader. I'm excited about the future of Delaware football."

Keeler's teams enjoyed a winning campaign all nine seasons and won at least six games each year. Included in the total were seven seasons with 10 or more wins, including a 12-2 mark in 1999. His teams won four New Jersey Athletic Conference titles and were honored with the Lambert Cup Trophy, symbolic of Eastern college football supremacy, six times.

His teams were also named ECAC Team of the Year six times and he was named NJAC Coach of the Year three times. Keeler received the Stan Lomax-Irving Marsh Award by the Metropolitan New York Football Writers Association as its Division III Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1993.

Also during his tenure, Keeler coached eight NJAC Offensive Player of the Year award winners, three NJAC Defensive Player of the Year award recipients, and two NJAC Rookie of the Year winners. He has also coached 19 All-Americans, most recently quarterback Tony Racioppi and offensive lineman Rob Rieck in 2001, defensive tackle Tim Watson and linebacker John Gavlick in 1999, and Terrick Grace in 1997. Racioppi was one of three finalists for the Melberger Award, presented to the NCAA III Player of the Year. Watson was drafted in the sixth round of the NFL draft by Seattle in 2000.

Keeler found immediate success at Rowan, leading his first team to a record of 11-2 and a berth in the NCAA Division III championship game before falling to Mount Union.

Rowan returned to the NCAA III title game four more times, falling each time, in 1995 (losing to Wisconsin-Lacrosse), 1996 (Mt. Union), 1998 (Mt. Union), and 1999 (Pacific Lutheran). This past season, Keeler led the team to an 11-2 record before falling to Bridgewater (Va.) 29-24 on the last play of the game in the national semifinals.

A native of Emmaus, Pa. (Emmaus HS), Keeler headed to the University of Delaware for his college football and quickly earned a name for himself as an aggressive 6-0, 210 lb. linebacker who was often in the right place at the right time. He was a three-year starter under Raymond and led the team to a three-year record of 32-7. In 1978 he led the Blue Hens to a 10-4 record and a berth in the NCAA Division II championship game before falling to Eastern Illinois, 10-9.

The Hens put it all together in 1979, winning the school's fifth national title with a 13-1 record and a 38-21 win over Youngstown State in the NCAA II championships game in Albuquerque, N.M. The 1980 team posted a record of 9-2 but did not qualify for post-season action.

Keeler was a member of two ECAC Team of Year squads and one Lambert Cup winner and was named the Newark Touchdown Club Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 1980.

He posted six career interceptions, including three in a 1978 NCAA Division II 42-27 quarterfinal playoff win over Jacksonville State. All three interceptions came on consecutive pass attempts by Jacksonville State. He also intercepted a pass and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown vs. Temple in 1980.

He was signed to an NFL free agent contract by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1982 and was released twice in the final cuts. He also received tryouts with the Philadelphia Stars and Jacksonville Bulls of the United States Football League.

Keeler and his wife, Janice, have two children, daughter Kate (19) and son Jackson (17). Keeler is a member of the America Football Coaches Association All-American and Program committees and was active locally with Feed the Homeless Project, Big Brother Day, Campus Clean-Up, and Special Olympics at Rowan University.

K.C. and Janice recently served as Co-chairs for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware and their annual One Campaign. The campaign exceeded the goal of $750,000 by raising over $762,000.