More than a week after Lee parted ways with Hull as Delaware State’s football coach, at least one former Hornet has drafted a letter of support for Hull’s replacement.
Steven Tadlock, a former quarterback at Delaware State College in the 1980s, shared a letter on a DSU alumni group on Facebook supporting a potential return to the program for former head coach and DSC great Rod Milstead.
“This is not a petition or demand, simply a letter of support to our Hornet football alumni to get our football program back to where it needs to be” Tadlock is placed in the DSU Stinging Hornets football booster club group.
Milstead, a three-time MEAC offensive lineman who played six seasons with the Super Bowl XXIX champion San Francisco 49ers and Washington Commanders in the NFL, coached the Hornets from 2018 to 2022. 9-30 in MEAC play.
The Hornets finished 2021 and 2022 with identical 5-6 overall and 2-3 MEAC records before being let go in November 2022. Hull, who previously coached at Howard and Morgan State (won the conference title in 2014), was hired. in December 2022 and posted a 2-21 record in two seasons with an 0-10 record. MEAC games. Hull was fired on Dec. 3 in a major shakeup that included the departure of athletic director Alecia Shields Gadson.. After that he was replaced by Tony Tucker.
The letter highlights the team’s academic success under Milstead, including the highest GPA and the program record for most MEAC All-Academic selections.
The letter also suggests ways for Milstead to win the recruiting war at Delaware, especially now that rival University of Delaware is moving from the Coastal Athletic Association and FCS to the FBS and Conference USA starting next season.
“One of the ways Coach Milstead has gotten our program back on track in addition to surpassing previous accomplishments is by infusing new blood and new ideas into the staff. Coaches from Delaware knowing that they will be with Coach Milstead to ensure our success. This would mean being a top State recruit like the FOCUS of our program, new and innovative offensive schemes, a potential successor to coach Milstead already on staff,” the letter explained.
“This gives us our path forward: the combination of a new direction based on the real experience of WINNING NOW and the stability of a DSU Hall of Fame-level succession plan for the long term.”
