Counting down Delaware's top 125 coaches through the years. Here's 50 to 26

Delaware has a splendid sports history.

During the last two years, Delaware Online/The News Journal has capsulized the First State's prolific past with two epic lists.

Last year, we published a collection of Delaware's all-time 100 greatest teams, a compendium of winners who left the most indelible marks on teammates, fans and followers.

That followed our 2021 recognition of the state's 100 most accomplished athletes. It was a tribute to more than a century's worth of icons who graced our landscape by excelling at their games, scoring victories, stirring emotions and instilling memories.

Those athletes and teams, of course, needed coaches. Now, we have assembled an honor roll for them. Many guided the athletes and teams on our previous lists.

We learned that 100 names was not enough and expanded this list to 125, though it certainly could have been larger.

They have been divided into five sections of 25. Here are the 26th through 50th all-time greatest Delaware coaches, which includes one late addition at No. 50 due to an earlier oversight:

50 (tie): Jerry Lamey

The William Penn High graduate took over a Hodgson Vo-Tech wrestling program that couldn't fill all the weight classes and made it a state power. The Silver Eagles went 190-39-2 under Lamey through 2002, winning seven Blue Hen Conference and six state Division II titles.

50 (tie): Frank Moffett

Moffett coached Hodgson Vo-Tech football teams to a 153-74 record over 20 seasons from 2004-23. He guided the Silver Eagles to 2007, 2013 and 2014 DIAA Division II titles and the 2019 Division I crown. He is the only Black head coach of a state football champion in the tournament's 52-year history.

49: Bob King

King coached his alma mater, Howard, to seven state track and field titles in both Division I and Division II over 14 years as coach from 1972-85. The state records run by his 1983 and 1984 teams in the 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter relays remain, as do Terry Thomas’ 1982 discus and shot-put marks for Howard.

48: Mike Judy

Smyrna's football history was highlighted by a 1975 Division II title game loss before Mike Judy was hired as coach in 2014. The Eagles have since won Division I state titles in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and the Class 3A crown in 2022 while sending many players off to college teams.

47: Kate Austin

Austin became Cape Henlopen High field hockey coach in 2012 and immediately steered the Vikings to four straight state titles before the split into enrollment-based divisions. The Vikings have won five more state titles since in Division I while compiling an overall record of 184-15-1 under Austin.

46: Chip Hannig

A swimming standout himself at Salesianum in the early 1970s, Hannig became the Sals’ head coach in 2001 and has overseen a dominant display. Salesianum has won the state championship in 20 of its 22 seasons under Hannig’s leadership while finishing second the other two years (2005 and 2016). The Sals have set several state records and had numerous state individual and relay champs.

45: Matt Smith

Elevated to succeeded Tom Lemon as Saint Mark’s baseball coach in 1998, Smith has kept the Spartans among the state’s elite, winning his first state title in 1999 and 10 overall, with three other championship game appearances.

44: John Wells

One of Delaware’s most successful two-sport coaches, Wells has guided the Sussex Central football team to six state championship games highlighted by the 2018 and 2020 Division I titles while going 205-88. He also coaches the Golden Knights softball squad, which has made seven state finals with titles in 1995, 2005 and 2008.

43: Larry Wheeler

Wheeler became Delaware’s all-time winningest high school baseball coach in 2010 and then in 2021 the first to win 500 games. His 40-plus season includes stints at Claymont, Brandywine, Delaware Military Academy then Brandywine again, with his 1973 Claymont and 2002 Brandywine teams winning state titles and four others reaching the finals. He also coached Claymont and Brandywine football for 21 years, taking each to state finals.

42: Ron Dickerson

Dickerson was Seaford High football coach from 1973-1997 and 1999-2001 and skippered Blue Jays baseball teams for 25 seasons. The Blue Jays won 1981 Division I and 1983 Division II state football titles and 1983 and 1986 baseball championships and had players reach the NFL, MLB and the Olympics.

41: K.C. Keeler

The former UD linebacker left Rowan to succeed Tubby Raymond as Delaware football coach in 2002. Over 11 seasons under Keeler from 2002-12, Delaware went 86-52, won the 2003 NCAA Division I-AA title and reached the 2007 and 2010 NCAA title games.

40: Rod Lambert

Lambert was a record-setting sprinter at Mount Pleasant High and the University of Maryland before becoming a successful coach. He steered Padua to 19 state titles in cross country and indoor and outdoor track from 1981-90 and later guided William Penn to another.

39: Tom Lemon

Lemon turned St. Mark’s into a state baseball juggernaut, his teams going 245-75 over 16 seasons through 1997. That included eight trips to the state championship game and four titles, including in his last season. Several of his players were drafted, including future big leaguers Kevin Mench and Pedro Swann Jr.

38: Bill Thomson

Thomson turned a slew of Delaware Athletic Club – then Delaware Sports Club – athletes into national caliber track and field performers beginning in the 1960s, with daughter Carol eventually being a national- and world-record-setting hurdler and national collegiate and U.S. champ. He had four other American record holders, three Olympians, eight junior and senior National AAU champions and three NCAA champions. He was U.S. national women's hurdles coach, led several U.S. teams in meets such as a 1976 dual with the Soviet Union, and was among the coaches for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow that the U.S. boycotted.

37: John Fiorelli

The former Saint Mark’s High boys basketball coach took over as girls coach before the 1989-90 season and found his niche. He guided the Spartans to six state championships in as many tries from 1991 through 2002 and went 356-139 over 24 seasons.

36: Paul Niggebrugge

The former Dickinson High, Temple University and minor-league infielder coached Caravel baseball for 31 seasons through 2017, winning 420 games and five state championships with four other state final appearances.

35: Ernie Anderson

The former Conrad and Delaware State athlete became one of Delaware’s most accomplished track and field coaches over 38 years at Delcastle, where he guided the boys and later the girls teams. They won 12 state championships and eight New Castle County titles, finishing second five times. Anderson coached 12 who set state individual records, 140 individual state champ and 44 state relay title teams.

34: Mike Brey

Brey was plucked from Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke staff to become Delaware men’s basketball coach in 1995. After two middling seasons, Delaware won back-to-back America East titles to reach the NCAA Tournament and followed that with its lone National Invitation Tournament bid. Brey, who was 99-52 in five UD seasons, was then hired by Notre Dame.

33: Bill DiNardo

DiNardo started his coaching career early after suffering a career-ending injury while playing for Archmere. That was the foundation for one of Delaware’s most successful stints. He went on to become head coach at Caravel (1986-87), Middletown (1988-2003) and Salesianum (2004-22). His teams went 305-107-1, a win total topped only by Friends’ Bob Tattersall, and won three Division II state titles at Middletown and four Division I championships at Sallies.

32: Bob Healy

Salesianum had played in two state finals and won one but that was 10 years before Healy became lacrosse coach in 2006. Since then, the Sals have set the standard, winning 12 state championships and playing for four others while regularly tackling a competitive regional schedule. They recently won their 300th game under Healy.

31: Rolf van de Kerhof

Since moving to Delaware from Michigan State in 2011, van de Kerkhof has restored Delaware’s national prominence in field hockey, highlighted by the Blue Hens winning the 2016 NCAA Division I title, just the second in school history at college sports’ highest level. In his 12 seasons, Delaware has gone 159-86 and won nine CAA Tournament titles and the accompanying NCAA Tournament bid.

30: P.J. Kesmodel

The former coach of Maryland state championship teams at Mount Hebron in both boys and girls lacrosse retired to Lewes and volunteered to assist with the girls team at Cape Henlopen. He became head coach a year later in 2008. In 2009, Cape Henlopen began a run of state titles that ended at 13 in a row. Kesmodel coached through 2016. His Vikings went 143-17-1.

29: Sue Heiss

Heiss became Ursuline volleyball coach in 1982 and, except for a year away to have her second child, stayed on through 2021. The Raiders won 11 state titles under her guidance, including seven in eight years from 2002-09, and reached 17 state finals in all.

28: Joseph Beattie

Rev. Beattie made Salesianum a state and regional cross-country powerhouse as its coach for 18 years through 1983 and also coached Sallies’ state track champs from 1971-74. Sallies cross country teams won state titles his last eight seasons plus five before that. The 1979 Sals were state Division I champ and won the Salesianum, Temple and Manhattan College Invitationals.

27: Bob Shillinglaw

Shillinglaw put Delaware on the national stage in men’s lacrosse as coach for 39 years from 1979 to 2017. Delaware won 15 conference titles and reached six NCAA tournaments, including a 2007 berth in the Final Four. Shillinglaw was USILA national coach of the year in 1979 and 1999. Including three years at Massachusetts Maritime before Delaware, he coached more games than anyone in NCAA history.

26: Karen Kohn

Kohn was at the foundation of girls high school sports in Delaware. She guided A. I. du Pont to a 227-86 record over 20 basketball seasons through 1986, highlighted by the 1977 state title and 11 Blue Hen Conference championships. She was just as successful guiding the Tigers in field hockey from 1966-1990, winning the 1975 and 1976 state titles and eight Blue Hen championships while finishing 202-69.

Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware's greatest 125 coaches: 50 to 26