College Football Preview: Delaware Valley College Aggies
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Division III Delaware Valley College Aggies are coming off a 7-4 2013 campaign and settling in to their first preseason camp under new head coach Duke Greco. The longtime assistant, and former Del Val quarterback, took over the program during the offseason, after Jim Clements left Doylestown to take the head coaching job at Division II Kutztown University.
Greco is pleased with what he has seen so far in camp.
"We're really excited," Greco tells KYW Newsradio. "We have a great group coming back. Those guys are as motivated as ever. We're also excited about our incoming (freshman) class. We have a lot of good talent coming in and we think that they're ready to push some of the upper classmen, for us to get better."
Duke Greco
The 2013 season could've been even better for the Aggies. Three of Del Val's four losses came by a combined 13 points, with two coming in overtime. Greco says those near misses have motivated this year's squad.
"I think it definitely has," Greco says. "The guys realize that we have the talent here to compete and win a MAC championship every year, when we're disciplined and accountable. Those tough losses, we lost a few games that could've went either way, we think really (it) slipped through our fingertips last year and we're ready to go for this year."
Greco, who severed as Del Val's offensive coordinator before the promotion to head coach, says his offense has a lot of talent.
"We have some really good returners up front, (junior) Josh Wallace, (sophomore) Trevor Stover, and (senior) Rodney Linder," Greco says. "And we have some pretty good athletes, (senior) Rasheed Bailey at receiver, (senior) Aaron Wilmer coming back at quarterback and (senior) Chris Smallwood at tailback, who played a little bit last year. Think that he could've played and started anywhere in our conference last year and he was stuck behind Kyle Schuberth, who was a great running back here. So we're excited to see what Chris can do."
Wilmer already has three seasons as a starting quarterback under his belt. He threw for 2,113 yards and 15 touchdowns last year. A dual threat, he also rushed 366 yards and scored three times on the ground. Bailey caught 51 passes for 977 yards and 8 touchdowns in 2013. Smallwood rushed for 148 yards and 3 touchdowns in limited action.
As for the other side of the ball.
"Defensively, we're going to be as fast and physical as ever," Greco says. "We have Danny Wynne coming back in the secondary, who is as competitive a kid as you find at this level."
Wynne led the team with 112 tackles last season. Junior linebacker Ken Kenner-English should also play a big role on defense. He had 82 tackles a season ago.
The Aggies were picked to finish second in the preseason Middle Atlantic Conference poll.
Delaware Valley College opens its 2014 season on Saturday, September 6th, paying Montclair State a visit.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
You may also be interested in these stories:
