Delaware State athletic director Tony Tucker is returning to St. Andrew’s School as the Hornets prepare for a major football showcase, a national leadership search and a $55 million facilities project. Delaware State University is building momentum across its athletic department, but the man who helped guide much of that progress is leaving. Athletic director Tony Tucker is stepping down to return to St. Andrew’s School near Middletown, Delaware, as the HBCU prepares for another major football showcase and the start of an ambitious construction project.
The university announced Tucker’s departure Thursday, October 15, just 16 days before Delaware State faces Norfolk State at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Tucker begins his new position November 2 but will continue supporting Delaware State’s leadership transition through the end of 2026.
Delaware State has launched a national search for his replacement, with plans to name a new athletic director by the beginning of 2027. Deputy Athletic Director Brian Ellerbe will manage the department’s day-to-day operations during the transition.
The timing raises an important question for Delaware State. Can the university maintain its athletic progress while changing leadership at the top?
Tucker helped change expectations at Delaware State
Tucker’s most recognizable move came in December 2024, when he and his administration secured former NFL receiver DeSean Jackson as the Hornets’ head football coach.
Jackson inherited a struggling program and delivered an 8-4 record in his first season. Delaware State finished as the MEAC runner-up in 2025, recording its best season since winning the conference championship in 2007. The Hornets also secured their first winning season since 2012.
The turnaround helped raise expectations around a program that had spent years trying to regain its competitive footing. Jackson’s hiring also brought national attention to Delaware State, giving the university a recognizable football figure with strong connections to Philadelphia.
Tucker continued making significant coaching decisions across the department. He hired Khadijah Rushdan to lead women’s basketball and extended men’s basketball coach Stan Waterman.
Delaware State now sponsors 22 sports, the most in the MEAC. Tucker’s administration developed women’s flag football and women’s wrestling, which the university identifies as the only NCAA Division I women’s wrestling program at an HBCU.
The expansion came alongside academic success. According to Delaware State’s October 15 statement, its scholar-athletes hold the MEAC’s highest graduation rate. They also maintained a 3.28 cumulative GPA and earned more than 300 academic honor-roll selections during the 2025-26 academic year.
Those accomplishments provide a measurable picture of the department Tucker leaves behind. His successor will inherit expanded athletic opportunities, established coaching staffs and higher expectations.
A $55 million project adds another responsibility
Football may attract the most attention, but Delaware State’s next athletic director will also inherit a major construction project.
The university is moving forward with a $55 million athletic field house, scheduled to open in fall 2028. Demolition is expected to begin in January 2027, around the same time Delaware State expects to have its next athletic director in place.
The project includes a complete renovation of the home stands at Alumni Stadium. It is part of the university’s Athletics Transformation Campaign, which began with an initial private investment from alumnus Steve Ewing, a member of the Class of 1983, and has since attracted significant state investment.
For the next athletic director, the challenge will involve managing existing programs while helping oversee a substantial facilities investment. Fundraising relationships, construction schedules and athletic department operations will all require attention.
The university has established a construction timetable. Whether the leadership transition affects the execution of that plan remains a question worth following.
Delaware State prepares for Philadelphia without Tucker at the helm
Tucker’s departure also comes as Delaware State prepares to return to Lincoln Financial Field for one of its most visible football events.
The Hornets face Norfolk State on October 31 in a rematch featuring Jackson and former Philadelphia Eagles teammate Michael Vick, now Norfolk State’s head coach.
Their first meeting attracted 47,266 fans in 2025, with Delaware State winning 27-20. The crowd demonstrated the potential for HBCU football to establish a stronger presence in the Northeast.
Tucker played a prominent role in developing the event. During HBCU Gameday’s examination of Philadelphia’s HBCU football revival, he discussed the expectations surrounding the original matchup and the opportunity to build a recurring football tradition in the city.
The October rematch provides another opportunity to connect Delaware State with alumni, recruits and football fans throughout the region.
Jackson remains in charge of the football program. However, the next athletic director will inherit the responsibility of supporting that program while balancing the needs of 21 other sports.
Delaware State begins search for its next athletic director
Delaware State has appointed Leroy A. Tice, Esq., to chair the national search for Tucker’s successor. Tice is a former chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees, its longest-serving trustee and a member of the Class of 2001.
During the search, Ellerbe will oversee daily athletic operations and report to Executive Vice President Irene Chapman-Hawkins. Temesghen Starr, assistant vice president and head of athletics growth and revenue generation, will also report to Chapman-Hawkins.
That arrangement provides an administrative structure while Tucker continues supporting the transition through December. The university has not identified Ellerbe as an interim athletic director or announced whether he will seek the permanent position.
For Tucker, the move represents a return to familiar territory. The Delaware native played basketball at the University of Delaware and is a member of the Delaware Basketball Hall of Fame. He began his independent-school career at St. Andrew’s in 1992.
He will return as senior associate director of admissions and director of strategic projects and external relations.
Delaware State now faces a different challenge from the one Tucker encountered when he arrived. The football program has produced its strongest season in nearly two decades, the athletic department has expanded, and a $55 million construction project is approaching its first major milestone.
The next athletic director will inherit that progress, along with the responsibility of maintaining it.
For Delaware State, the immediate question is who takes over. The longer-term measure will be whether the Hornets can continue moving forward after Tucker’s departure.