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Our first meeting of the new year will be April 22, at the Bob Carpenter Center at 11:30 am. At the meeting Coach Keeler will discuss our upcoming season, players and the Blue/White game which will be held on April 23, at 7:00 pm.
KC Keeler
UD Football Head Coach
In eight seasons at the helm of the Blue Hens, Keeler owns an impressive overall mark of 62-39 (.614), including a mark of 36-30 (.545) in league place. In 17 seasons overall as a college head coach, his mark stands at 150-60-1 (.713). In those 17 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 39 losses at Delaware, 20 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). 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.
Keeler, 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.
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).
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-foot, 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.
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 (20) and son Jackson (18). 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.
Keeler is also involved with the Jason Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to the awareness and prevention of youth suicide, serving as a JFI/American Football Coaches Association Ambassador.
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