As offensive coordinator, Lee Hull oversaw the potent Howard University offense for three seasons before being hired as Delaware State’s head football coach last winter.
He’ll see some of his old players this Saturday when the Bison visit Dover for a noon MEAC contest, but neither he nor Howard head coach Larry Scott expects to see the same plays and style of play that marked their 2022 shared conference championship season in D.C.
“Every year, every football team takes on a different identity,” Scott said during Monday’s MEAC coaches’ conference. “There have been some changes schematically in how we do things, and I’m sure Coach Hull will adapt to his personnel and put his guys in positions to have success. Obviously, we’ll do the same.”
“At the end of the day, it’s about us,” Hull said. “We’ve got to prepare and fix some of the things we need to fix. We can’t worry about what Coach Scott and Howard will be doing.”
The Bison overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to give their always-raucous homecoming crowd a reason to cheer with a 27-23 win over Norfolk State to begin conference play.
Delaware State’s homecoming result was less than ideal as South Carolina State’s running game rolled up 357 yards en route to a 35-7 win in Dover. Hull is frustrated with the Hornets’ inability to stop the run but is also realistic about the defensive depth wearing thin.
“It’s very frustrating because we’ve emphasized tackling and wrapping up,” Hull said. “We had guys who weren’t shooting their guns, but we’re still missing four starters on defense. Hopefully, we get a couple of them back this week.”
Scott, meanwhile, is wary of a homecoming hangover heading into Dover this weekend.
“We want to play like we’re capable of playing each week,” he says. “We have a standard that is very high for us. In the first half last Saturday, we didn’t reach that, but in the second half, we were able to stop the run and reach that standard. We want to have a high level of consistency for four quarters, not just for a half or in spurts.”
