MOUNT VERNON – Ken Delgado’s path to Kenyon took him through the highest levels of football.
The former assistant coach with the Cleveland Browns as well as multiple Division I NCAA programs plans to use that experience to lift the Lords to new heights.
“I’ve been everywhere, man,” Delgado told the Mount Vernon News. “Just like Johnny Cash.”
Delgado, Kenyon’s defensive line coach and special teams coordinator, is the newest member of head coach James Rosenbury’s staff. Delgado has been a coach for more than 25 years at programs around the country.
“This is a young staff,” Rosenbury said. “When I arrived here, I was the oldest at the age of 36. Ken brings his wisdom and experience. He’s seen every situation and then some.”
Delgado began his college coaching career at San Jose State. His career includes stops Western Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Louisville and Utah. But it’s his years in the state of California as an assistant at San Diego State and the University of California that is reflected in the current Kenyon roster.
“I know how to talk to California kids and to their parents,” Delgado said. “It puts people at ease when you have that connection to them.”
There are 79 players on Kenyon’s roster – an all-time high. Nine of those players are from California, six of whom are first-year players.
“We have a strong alumni base around the country, especially in California,” Rosenbury said. “It’s a combination of knowing the alumni, and the right schools to visit.”
Delgado most recently worked as a defensive line assistant with the Cleveland Browns under Hue Jackson for three seasons through 2018. Going from coaching in the NFL to the Division III NCAA level isn’t a big transition, according to Delgado, but it does require a different approach.
“When you coach at other levels, they take the game more professionally,” Delgado said. “They’re looking to improve their skills to get to the next level. Here, they’re more focused on their studies, on graduating and their careers after college. They play football because they enjoy it.”
After he and the rest of the Browns staff left following the 2018 season, Delgado took time away from coaching to pursue other interests.
“Then the pandemic hit,” Delgado said. “I wasn’t coaching. Then my son (David Delgado at Oberlin) told me of an opening at Kenyon. I called them, and now I’m here.”
Kenyon has not seen a lot of success on the gridiron in recent years. The Lords finished the 2019 season with a 3-7 mark (the team did not play last year), their best record since 2013. Kenyon suffered through a 26-game losing streak that ended on its opening game in 2019. This season, Kenyon lost its opener in overtime, 34-31, to Benedictine and was beaten last week by Wooster, 49-7, in its season-opening North Atlantic Conference game. The Lords play on the road again today at DePauw at 1 p.m., before returning home for their Homecoming game against Oberlin on Sept. 25 at noon.
“People in Ohio love football, and we are Knox County’s lone football college,” Rosenbury said. “We love doing things with the community, whether it’s through Colt football or clinics.
“We let one slip through our fingers in the opener, and we came out on the wrong side last week, but we’re learning how to win.”
