The University of Delaware football team – with a new head coach – is picked to finish second in the CAA conference in 2022.
The Blue Hens were picked second in a vote by league head coaches and media relations directors, receiving seven first-place votes.
Archrival Villanova earned the top spot with 16 first-place votes.
The Hens enter this season with a new leader. Ryan Carty is the new head coach, returning to UD where he was a backup QB and co-captain. He was most recently an offensive coordinator under former UD coach K.C. Keeler at Sam Houston State.
Carty says it’s nice being picked high, but in the end what happens on the field is what matters.
"It's not really about where you start as we all know. There's only going to be one CAA team that's happy at the end of the season when they win it and honestly in the NCAA playoffs at the FCS level there's only going to be one happy team at the end of the season as well and I think we do have that pressure there but we also had the capability to back it up," said Carty.
Carty is confident about the team, especially the defense and Quarterback Nolan Henderson.
"It's about people right, it's about our players,” said Carty. “There's a ton returning on defense here of what was a very good defense, and with Nolan coming back from his injury as we all know and we've proven time after time in our offenses that we've been a part of and our offensive staff it's about our quarterback too and our quarterback is one of the best in the league."
As for that Blue Hen defense, nine starters return this year including All-America safety Kedrick Whitehead.
Of those nine starters, four are on the preseason all-conference team. UD’s first game is September 3 at Navy.
