DeLane Fitzgerald enters his eighth season at the helm of the Frostburg football team entering 2021 and is the program’s winningest coach with 49 victories. He is also the program’s all-time leader in win percentage (.742) and boasts the fewest number of losses of any coach in the 59-year history of the program who coached at least five years.
In the Bobcats 2nd year of NCAA DII football, Fitzgerald led the team to a 3-1 record in a COVID-19 shortened season. Fitzgerald now has 52 victories as Head Coach in his 7 year tenure at Frostburg State. Fitzgerald coached 15 players to All-MEC status including Defensive Player of the Year, Zach Strand. Along with Strand, Kyle Belack, Nate Forte, Gottlieb Ayedze, Greg Gaines, Carl Igweh, and Jake Broschart all joined an extended list of 1st teamer's who have played under Fitzgerald. Will Hall and Dylan Culpen added to the All-MEC selections under Fitzgerald as 2nd teamer's. In addition, there were 6 All-MEC Honorable Mentions. The Bobcats had the 3rd ranked offense and defense in the MEC, while leading DII in sacks with 18. Fitzgerald had his foot on the gas in the 3 wins outscoring opponents by a combined 74 points for a total point differential on the season of +68. Off the field, Fitzgerald coached 12 All-MEC Academic selections and 22 Commissioners Honor Roll honorees making a total of 34 recognized scholars on his 2020 squad.
The Bobcats opened the NCAA Division II era with an 8-3 overall record that included a seven-game winning streak, votes in the AFCA Top 25 Weekly poll in late October/early November and a tie for second place in the MEC final standings.
Seven football players were named to the All-MEC teams, Vincent Persichetti became the program’s first-ever Academic All-American and four players were named to the Don Hansen Super Region I Team.
Frostburg closed its time at the NCAA Division III level with a stellar three-year run as it won 31 games during that span, with two trips to the NCAA Playoffs in 2017 and 2018 and an ECAC Bowl Game victory following the 2016 season. FSU spent the entire ’17 and ’18 seasons ranked inside the top-25 polls, while the 11-win campaign in 2017 is a school record for wins. Frostburg has defeated five ranked opponents since the start of the 2016 season and six ranked opponents during his six seasons.
The Bobcats capped DIII with three-straight 10-plus win seasons and three-consecutive Regents Cup trophies. FSU boasted 44 All-NJAC selections, 10 All-Region honorees and six All-American awards from 2016-2018.
In 2018, the Bobcats hosted a pair of NCAA Playoffs games for the first time in program history, finished the season ranked eighth in the AFCA poll, posted the first undefeated regular-season in program history (9-0) and won the NJAC Title for the second time in three seasons. FSU opened the playoffs with a dominating 42-24 win over Western New England at Bobcat Stadium.
In 2017, The Bobcats captured a program record 11 wins (11-2) that included NCAA Playoff victories over No. 9 Wittenberg (35-7) and No. 10 Washington & Jefferson (46-23). Frostburg captured second in the NJAC standings (8-1), scored a school record 468 points and tied a school record with 13-straight wins that started in the 2016 season. The season marked FSU’s first trip to the NCAA Playoffs since 1993 and the first appearance in the quarterfinals since the playoffs expanded to 32 teams.
Statistically speaking, Frostburg was one of the most impressive teams in DIII from 2016-18. In '18, the Bobcats finished 39th in the country in total offense (435.9), while in '16, the Bobcat defense was ninth in total defense as it limited opponents to just 240.6 yards per game. In '18, FSU was second in the country with five blocked punts. Frostburg ranked near the top of the NCAA statistics in blocked kicks in every year he’s been at the helm.
Four different players garnered six All-American honors since 2016 and Fitzgerald was twice been named the NJAC Coach of the Year.
The 2016 team concluded the season with nine-straight wins and a 10-1 overall record. At the time, it was just the second Bobcat team to record 10 wins in a season and the first team since 1990 to win nine straight.
Frostburg earned a spot in the Eastern College Athletic Conference’s (ECAC) Asa S. Bushnell Bowl Game against 22nd-ranked St. John Fisher on November 19, 2016 at historic Franklin Field. The 24th-ranked Bobcats dominated the contest, earning a 38-14 victory and limiting St. John Fisher to -26 yards on the ground. The Bobcats also posted 10 sacks in the win.
Fitzgerald continued the upward trend of his program in 2015 after he led his Bobcats to a 6-4 overall record, including a 5-4 mark in their first year in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. The six wins mark the most for Frostburg in a season since 2005.
FSU totaled nine All-NJAC honorees, including the league’s Special Teams and Rookie of the Year awards. Frostburg also collected numerous D3football.com All-Region and ECAC All-Star honors.
In his first season, Fitzgerald led the Bobcats to a 4-6 overall record, the most wins since 2011. Frostburg finished 2-6 in its final season as a member of the Empire 8 Athletic Conference that included a 38-37 double overtime upset of 25th-ranked Ithaca at Bobcat Stadium on Homecoming. The Bobcats capped the season with four All-Empire 8 selections, three on defense, and a USA College Football All-American.
Fitzgerald was a speaker for the Atlantic Central Football Conference (ACFC) in 2014 and was an AFCA Coaching Mentor in both 2014 and 2015.
Fitzgerald came to Frostburg after coaching at Southern Virginia University for eight years from 2006-2013, including the last five as the program's head coach. He was tasked with turning around the Knights that averaged just two wins per year over the program's history.
Fitzgerald, who had 24 wins in five seasons at the helm of Southern Virginia, helped the Knights set the single-season school record for wins twice. In 2013, he led SVU to a program-best 8-2 record behind a six-game winning streak. The Knights finished the season ranked No. 1 in the final United States Collegiate Athletic Association coaches' poll.
In 2012, he led the Knights to a 5-6 overall record, the third highest single-season total. As the offensive coordinator in 2007, Fitzgerald helped the team a 6-5 record, a then school record. That same season, the Knights set school marks in rushing, passing, total offense and points scored and finished seventh in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in total offense (474.3 yards per game).
Prior to Southern Virginia, Fitzgerald served for one season as offensive coordinator at NAIA-affiliated Bethel University (Tenn.), helping the Wildcats to a 7-4 overall record and the 2005 Mid-South Conference Western Division Championship. Fitzgerald's offense ranked fourth in the NAIA in total offense (453.8), third in rushing offense (272.8), seventh in pass efficiency rating (140.2) and 10th in third-down conversion percentage (43.1%).
Fitzgerald served for two years on the football staff at the University of Tennessee Martin in 2003-04 as the special teams coordinator and running backs coach. Prior to UTM, he coached at James Madison University for the 2002 season. The Dukes posted a 5-7 overall record, but laid the ground work for JMU's NCAA I-AA National Championship two seasons later.
Fitzgerald got his coaching start at the Bridgton Academy in North Bridgton, Maine from 2000-01, serving as the school's defensive coordinator.
His collegiate football playing career started at Potomac State College from 1995-96. As a sophomore, he was named Team Captain and was a Lough Award and Student-Athlete Award winner. After PSC, Fitzgerald transferred to James Madison for the 1997-1999 seasons. He helped lead JMU to an 8-4 record in '99 with a spot in the NCAA Playoffs and a share of the Atlantic 10 Championship. He was twice selected to the Academic All-Atlantic 10 team and was the John David Kraus Award Winner as a senior at JMU.
Fitzgerald received his bachelor's degree in Kinesiology from James Madison in 1999. In 2012, he earned his master's degree in education from Bethel University.
Fitzgerald and his wife Kim have three daughters - Mattie, Afton, and Laila.
