University of Delaware Athletics
Don Pyle's Legacy Carries On In Student-Athlete Success
4/22/2020 11:26:00 AM | Delaware Athletics
Don Pyle pulled up in his old, beat-up Mustang and insisted that his friend see what he had in his trunk.
"This is going to change the world, you take note," Pyle said.
The trunk was full of internet routers – before anybody knew what a router was or how important to daily life they would become. The next time Pyle drove by his friend, the salesman still had a trunk full of routers, but had traded the beater for a BMW. It signaled the start of a career that saw Pyle rise to be a successful tech executive.
Pyle graduated from the University of Delaware in 1980, where he was a member of the men's lacrosse team. He played for legendary head coach Bob Shillinglaw, who at the time was in his first year at the helm of the Blue Hens. At Delaware, he learned the value of teamwork and developed friendships that lasted well beyond his playing career.
Even though he rose quickly within his industry, interpersonal relationships remained a high priority for Pyle. He may have been in the C-suite at the companies he worked at, but he felt like one of the guys.
"He was very gregarious in a lot of ways," Sher Grogg, Don's sister, said. "He wasn't really flashy, he just liked people and it came through."
Pyle took his role as a leader seriously, and took time to purposefully mentor others. His friends said everything he did was done with "Pyle Style."
"Don's success was basically attributed to [the fact that] he was tenacious, he was gracious and he had integrity," Grogg said. "He was very big in mentoring others, and there's a lot of other people whose careers have been escalated because of him, or even started because of him. He changed a lot of people's lives."
When Pyle died tragically in 2015, and Grogg wanted to do something that would help carry on his legacy. In December 2019, she created the Don Pyle '80 Student-Athlete Success Fund to help fund BLUE programming, combining his love for Delaware, sports, and helping others succeed.
BLUE (Building Leaders Utilizing Education) is a four-year educational leadership program for student-athletes focusing on health and wellness, personal success, community engagement, diversity and inclusion, and career readiness.
The Pyle Fund made possible the session Would You Follow You?, the BLUE leadership course for juniors this past spring. Facilitated by professional speaker Sara Lowery, the workshop empowers student-athletes to create a personal SWOT (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats) assessment, reflect on how to take action in turning opportunities into strengths, and to find a way to mitigate threats to their personal leadership.
This course also goes hand-in-hand with other BLUE programs, Branding You and a networking night, all challenging athletes to consider their value and avenues for growth outside of their sport.
"He really loved athletics, he really loved the University of Delaware," Grogg said. "It's carrying on the legacy of his love for both, and the fact that he can help people by giving them some leadership skills that will help them with life, and make them more successful and happier."
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"This is going to change the world, you take note," Pyle said.
The trunk was full of internet routers – before anybody knew what a router was or how important to daily life they would become. The next time Pyle drove by his friend, the salesman still had a trunk full of routers, but had traded the beater for a BMW. It signaled the start of a career that saw Pyle rise to be a successful tech executive.
Pyle graduated from the University of Delaware in 1980, where he was a member of the men's lacrosse team. He played for legendary head coach Bob Shillinglaw, who at the time was in his first year at the helm of the Blue Hens. At Delaware, he learned the value of teamwork and developed friendships that lasted well beyond his playing career.
Even though he rose quickly within his industry, interpersonal relationships remained a high priority for Pyle. He may have been in the C-suite at the companies he worked at, but he felt like one of the guys.
"He was very gregarious in a lot of ways," Sher Grogg, Don's sister, said. "He wasn't really flashy, he just liked people and it came through."
Pyle took his role as a leader seriously, and took time to purposefully mentor others. His friends said everything he did was done with "Pyle Style.""Don's success was basically attributed to [the fact that] he was tenacious, he was gracious and he had integrity," Grogg said. "He was very big in mentoring others, and there's a lot of other people whose careers have been escalated because of him, or even started because of him. He changed a lot of people's lives."
When Pyle died tragically in 2015, and Grogg wanted to do something that would help carry on his legacy. In December 2019, she created the Don Pyle '80 Student-Athlete Success Fund to help fund BLUE programming, combining his love for Delaware, sports, and helping others succeed.
BLUE (Building Leaders Utilizing Education) is a four-year educational leadership program for student-athletes focusing on health and wellness, personal success, community engagement, diversity and inclusion, and career readiness.
The Pyle Fund made possible the session Would You Follow You?, the BLUE leadership course for juniors this past spring. Facilitated by professional speaker Sara Lowery, the workshop empowers student-athletes to create a personal SWOT (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats) assessment, reflect on how to take action in turning opportunities into strengths, and to find a way to mitigate threats to their personal leadership.
This course also goes hand-in-hand with other BLUE programs, Branding You and a networking night, all challenging athletes to consider their value and avenues for growth outside of their sport.
"He really loved athletics, he really loved the University of Delaware," Grogg said. "It's carrying on the legacy of his love for both, and the fact that he can help people by giving them some leadership skills that will help them with life, and make them more successful and happier."
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