Having waited his turn, this defensive player is ready to start as a Delaware linebacker

Long known for its penchant for playing top-notch quarterbacks, Delaware became more of a cradle of stellar linebackers in recent years.

The Blue Hens have had a slew of All-CAA honorees, led by first-team selections Charles Bell, Troy Reeder and Johnny Buchanan. The position also benefitted from talent and depth that went beyond them with other standouts such as Colby Reeder in creating a Linebacker U. reputation.

That is not the case in 2023, as No. 22-ranked Delaware must rebuild the position after the departures of longtime regulars Buchanan, Liam Trainer, Drew Nickles and Anthony Toro.

Stuck on the depth chart behind those players, Dillon Trainer had patiently awaited his turn, and now it comes. Rarely has a new UD starter been so ready to step in.

The fourth-year Blue Hen has played in 22 career games and been in on 21 tackles. But he has sophomore eligibility because the 2021 spring season didn’t count as a year used by the NCAA due to COVID-19 and Trainer played in just three games last year and thereby redshirted.

“Honestly, I think I’m in the best position right now,” Trainer, out of La Salle College High near Philadelphia, said after practice Thursday with the opener at CAA rival Stony Brook now three weeks away.

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Trainer’s father, Joe, the former head coach at Rhode Island and defensive coordinator at Villanova, had advised Dillon to embrace the Abe Lincoln quote – “I will prepare and someday my chance will come.”

“And that’s kind of how I feel right now,” Trainer said. “I feel like I’m in a position where I’ve kinda been sitting behind those guys for a couple years.”

One of the players he backed up was brother Liam, another indication that Trainer brings a strong family football foundation from which to build, new UD linebackers coach Rocco DiMeco has noticed.

“He’s a football junkie,” said DiMeco, who came to Delaware from LIU. “You know, he really loves the game. He loves the process of football. He loves to learn.”

The trick for Trainer now is taking what he’s learned onto the field and executing in a way that benefits the Blue Hens.

Inside linebackers must, DiMeco pointed out, play with a physical and aggressive mindset but also be keen enough to make the proper reads and communicate those to teammates.

Trainer hopes those qualities have come from time and diligence.

“When you’re a young guy and you’re coming up through the program,” he said, “a lot of it just kinda takes care of itself, just in the way you observe the older guys around you and the way you’re coached to do things like that.

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“So by the time you’re ready to play, it’s just kinda instinct more than anything. You’re kind of reacting. You’re just playing football.”

The Blue Hens use a pair of inside linebackers in their defensive scheme, with hybrid safeties such as Ty Davis also sometimes lining up as an outside linebacker. West Chester transfer Jackson Taylor, who was a Division II All-American and two-time PSAC East Defensive Player of the Year, is manning the other inside spot, much to Trainer’s delight.

“Jackson’s a bruiser,” Trainer said. “He’s definitely a guy who comes downhill with intentions.”

Taylor said he has benefitted from Trainer’s company in learning the defense since his arrival in the winter and called him “definitely one of the best linebackers I’ve played next to in my college career.”

The linebacker crew also features Mateo Vandamia, the former tight end/fullback in his second year on defense, true freshman Gavin Moul, who has earned second-team snaps and “has a high ceiling,” DiMeco said, and Stonehill transfer Marje Mulumba, who DiMeco saw in a game last year and said “was a dynamic player in the NEC.”

All have the difficult task of emulating a unit that was among Delaware’s most reliable and productive in recent years.

“They paved the way for not only the linebacker position here but kind of everybody in this program for leadership, accountability and things like that,” Dillon said of his former teammates. “Front row of the classroom, front of the line for reps, things like that.”

Hen scratch

The Coastal Athletic Association announced Thursday that Bryant will become the league’s 16th football member in 2024. Bryant will join America East rivals New Hampshire, Maine and Albany in the CAA, which in football is a conglomeration of schools with full-time residency in several leagues for other sports. The Bulldogs are presently part of the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference football grouping. The Smithfield, Rhode Island, university had been a Northeast Conference member until 2022-23. … Besides Moul, other true freshmen on defense indicating they’ll see early action include defensive backs Hasson Manning, K.T. Seay and Anthony Crenshaw. … Freshman Anwar O’Neal out of Middletown has gotten second-team reps at offensive tackle.

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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Dillon Trainer set to step in at linebacker for Delaware football