Chicago Bears continue trend of #HENFL with hiring of former Delaware Blue Hen Adams
NEWARK, Del. (BVM) — Delaware Blue Hens football fans may be seeing a bit of a trend with their school’s alumni. The Chicago Bears have become the pipeline connecting the Blue Hens program to the NFL. With former Hens quarterback Matt Nagy as the team’s head coach, this representation doesn’t come as a major surprise, but the amount of connections is a bit staggering for the limited NFL staff.
The Bears most recent addition to the coaching staff also used to call the University of Delaware campus in Newark, Del. his home. On Feb. 2, former Blue Hens and NFL safety Mike Adams agreed to terms to become the Chicago Bears assistant defensive backs coach. Adams, who played with Nagy during his time at Delaware, went undrafted in the 2004 NFL Draft, but that didn’t stop him from making an impact in the league.
Over his 16-year NFL career, Adams would play for six teams, appearing in 228 games with 149 starts. He recorded 30 interceptions — returning two for touchdowns — 935 tackles, 90 pass breakups, 19 tackles-for-loss, 13 forced fumbles, 16 fumble recoveries and six sacks during his career. He would also be selected to two Pro Bowls as a member of the Indianapolis Colts in back-to-back years (2014-15).
The addition of Adams’ gives the Bears a whopping four members former Blue Hens on its team, both on the coaching staff and on the field.
#BlueHens 🤝 Bears
Congrats, @MDOTADAMS20! https://t.co/ISRKa1nhJ6 pic.twitter.com/imfBHSMMBg
— Delaware Football (@Delaware_FB) February 2, 2021
The most noteworthy of these former members is Nagy. During his career with the Blue Hens, Nagy was simply one of the best quarterbacks the program had ever seen. Despite his small stature, Nagy was able to throw the ball all over the field setting Blue Hens career records in completions (502), yards (8,214), and touchdowns (58), as well as season records in yards (3,426) and touchdowns (29), and yardage in a game (556). While some of his records would later be broken by Super Bowl quarterback Joe Flacco, Nagy is still regarded as one of the best to don the yellow and blue.
Nagy is not alone as a former Hen on the coaching staff though as he is also joined by assistant special teams coach Brian Ginn. Ginn also excelled at quarterback for the Blue Hens from 1996-99 and would work his way onto the Delaware staff following his graduation in 2000.
Ginn would work in a number of roles for the Blue Hens staff over his 17 years with the team serving as coach of the quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends and wide receivers as well as being the team’s offensive coordinator. During his time, Ginn helped lead the Blue Hens to the 2003 national championship, eight NCAA tournament appearances, five conference titles and 17 winning seasons.
The coaching staff isn’t the only place where one can find a former Blue Hen. Nose tackle Bilal Nichols made his name known as a member of the Delaware football team during his four seasons with the program, playing in 44 career games with 21 starts and recording 104 tackles (50 solo), 17.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, two interceptions, and 15 pass breakups. In his four seasons, Nichols would also be an All-Colonial Athletic Association and earn third team All-American honors his senior season.
After earning spots in the East-West Shrine game, the Reese’s Senior Bowl and the NFL Combine, the Chicago Bears selected Nichols in the fifth round (the 145th overall selection) of the 2018 NFL Draft. Over his three seasons with the Bears, Nichols has become a solid contributor to the team’s defensive line rotation, playing in 43 games with 93 tackles, eight sacks, four pass deflections and one interception.
The Bears are the frontrunners in the league with former Blue Hens, but are by no means the only ones. This past season, seven Blue Hens participated in NFL training camps and in 2019 the Blue Hens led all FCS programs with nine former members on active NFL rosters.
Additionally, six Delaware alumni participated in the NFL playoffs including the trio of Bears, Los Angeles Rams linebacker Troy Reeder, Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach and Chiefs assistant quarterbacks coach Joe Bleymaier. Former Delaware tight end Nick Boyle’s NFL team, the Baltimore Ravens, also made the playoffs, but Boyle was sidelined with a season-ending injury.
With a reputation of bringing both players and coaches to the next level, the hiring of Adams likely won’t be the last time a Delaware Blue Hen makes the jump to the sport’s biggest stage. Although the Bears are the NFL’s Blue Hen pipeline, if one thing is certain, it’s that Blue Hens make a difference in the NFL.
