UD welcomes its new head football coach

The University of Delaware’s new football coach promises an aggressive brand of football under his watch.

Ryan Carty is calling UD home again – and the backup QB on the 2003 national championship squad and 2006 co-captain is excited to be back in Newark.

Carty returns to Delaware after serving as an assistant at New Hampshire and most recently Sam Houston State’s offensive coordinator under former UD coach K.C. Keeler.

His time at Sam Houston State included a national championship, a 21-game winning streak which was snapped Saturday in the playoffs, and top 10 rankings in scoring and total offense.

He plans to bring that aggressive offense to his alma mater.

"We're going to play an exciting brand of football for sure. That's who we are. That's what I believe in," said Carty. "I believe in attacking. I believe in playing downhill on people. I believe in having fun, being creative, innovative, all that stuff, and those adjectives are great but our foundation is going to be built on the willingness to outwork people and out tough people and play harder and longer than other people. That's what wins."

Attendance was down at UD games this past season. Carty wants to fill Delaware Stadium again, saying UD has national championship level fans and he’s seen firsthand how they can affect games.

He aims to bring that atmosphere back with the offense. He did say he will call plays.

He expects the same aggressiveness on the other side of the ball as he looks to hire a defensive coordinator.

"Somebody who is ready to put pressure on people, and I don't mean by blitzing only I mean pressure in calls, in fronts, in movements, in disguising, in mentality, and that's really more than anything else is how we want to play and it's a downhill mentality," he said.

Carty will make his debut as head coach September 3, 2022 at Navy.

His first home game is the following Saturday vs Delaware State University.

He already has his first “win” as UD coach. Starting quarterback Nolan Henderson said Monday after talking to Carty he plans to stay with the Blue Hens less than two weeks after entering the transfer portal to consider options elsewhere.