Salesianum School football coach Gene Delle Donne has been suspended for one game, Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association executive director David Baylor told the DIAA’s board of directors during its monthly meeting Aug. 13 in Dover.
It resulted from Delle Donne’s appearance on a June podcast entitled “How to Build a Championship Culture: Inside Salesianum Football” on something called Coach Schuman Sports and Entertainment’s Prospect Podcast.
Dave Schuman operates NUC -- National Underclassmen Combine – Sports, which trains and evaluates high school football players to help steer them to college. He appeared with Delle Donne and Derek DePascale, a New Jersey high school coach, on what is billed the Prospect Podcast.
“During the podcast,” Baylor said, “coach Delle Donne made statements suggesting the transfer portal existed in Delaware for high school football.
“He also made comments about the level of competition in and out of the state of Delaware regarding Salesianum football. Finally, he made comments related to the number of potential transfers that his sport may receive during the upcoming football season.”
His actions violated DIAA undue influence rules, which Baylor said Delle Donne has acknowledged and “accepted responsibility” for while completing a national federation sportsmanship course. Delle Donne preferred not to comment when contacted.
Delle Donne, entering his fourth season as head coach of the school where he played quarterback, guided Salesianum to the 2023 Class 3A state championship and return trips to the finals in which it lost to Middletown the last two years.
The Sals started preseason practice Aug. 13 and open the 2026 schedule Sept. 3 against Springside Chestnut Hill of Pennsylvania at Abessinio Stadium. This year’s roster, as in recent seasons, has several players who have transferred from other schools.
Salesianum freshman baseball coach Joel Lang was also suspended for one year from DIAA tournament assignments. It resulted from actions when he served as public-address announcer for the Sals’ state tournament game against visiting Indian River on June 4.
Baylor said Lang could be heard referring to IR as “losers from slower lower [Delaware]” as it arrived.
The Cape Henlopen girls lacrosse coaching staff was also placed on one-year probation and received a letter of reprimand.
One of its members went to the press box and communicated with fellow coaches, which is not permitted, during a 16-3 state tournament semifinal win over visiting Caesar Rodney May 27, Baylor told the board.
Caravel football situation addressed
In other matters, Baylor said that if Caravel returns to playing varsity football, it will do so in Class 3A.
Caravel announced in June it would not play varsity football in 2026 because school leaders didn’t feel it had the players to compete in 3A. The move forced opponents to scramble to fill their 10-game schedules.
That decision surprised coaches at other schools, who know many Delaware teams have continued fielding varsity teams despite being regularly overmatched in personnel and sometimes enduring frequent defeats. It was also not properly communicated to the DIAA, Baylor said.
After a review of the matter, Baylor said, Caravel must submit a formal application for re-instatement if and when it returns to varsity football and will do so at its present classification. The Bucs would also be “on restrictive probation” during which it will not be eligible for postseason competition.
The school will appeal those decisions at the September DIAA board meeting.
Caravel was moved up from Class 2A to 3A last year after two unbeaten state championship seasons, putting it with the state’s largest and most successful football programs. The Bucs went 6-4 overall, losing to eventual 3A champ Middletown, twice in close games against Appoquinimink, the latter in the state quarterfinals, and by forfeit to Salesianum Oct. 31 because of safety concerns resulting from a shortage of experienced players.
Caravel did beat 3A foe Hodgson 35-8 a week later. The Bucs opened the season 4-0, including a 42-18 rout of eventual Class 2A state champ Red Lion.
There were 39 players on Caravel’s 2025 roster, including 10 freshmen. There were eight juniors but many elected to transfer for their senior year, several to Salesianum.
More “transparency” in football classification
Baylor also said future oversight of the state football tournaments’ class structure will be overseen by the DIAA competition committee, which was recently charged with creating a new divisional format for other team sports that will begin in the fall of 2027.
Football has had a three-class setup since 2021 in which a school’s recent results play a significant role in its class assignment, whereas enrollment was previously the only factor.
The Delaware Interscholastic Football Coaches Association, in conjunction with the DIAA football committee, had previously overseen the process. That drew criticism after the 2024 season, when 2025-26 classes were determined, due to some schools being unaware of the process used for classification.
Baylor said Thursday there was “concern and frustration” and a “lack of transparency” then and added “this year’s process would address all those concerns.”
Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Salesianum football coach Delle Donne gets one-game DIAA suspension