University of Delaware Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Cornerbacks Coach
- Email:
- nrapone@udel.edu
- Phone:
- 302-831-2254
Nick Rapone will be bringing 40 years of coaching experience to the University of Delaware.
At the very start of his coaching career, Rapone worked as a graduate assistant for one year at the University of Pittsburgh before moving to East Tennessee State as the defensive backs coach for one year in 1981. Following East Tennessee State, Rapone returned to his home state of Pennsylvania to work at Temple University as the defensive coordinator and defensive secondary coach from 1983-1988.
Following his work at Temple, Rapone returned to the University of Pittsburgh where he worked as the defensive backs coach from 1989-1992 in addition to being the defensive coordinator in 1992. Rapone then stayed in-state while spending two years at his alma mater high school from 1993-1994. He returned to coach college at the University of Connecticut under head coach Skip Holtz, serving as the defensive coordinator and secondary coach for four seasons and helping the Huskies to the I-AA playoffs for the first time in school history in 1998.
After his three years at UCONN, Rapone went back to Temple for a second stint and served as the defensive backs coach and kickoff coverage coach for seven years. He helped lead the Owls to a top 20 rank in total defense in both 2001 and 2002.
Rapone was at Delaware for six years from 2006-2012 as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. While at Delaware, Rapone was part of a coaching staff that helped lead the Blue Hens to two national championship appearances in 2007 and 2010. His defensive secondary included four All-CAA performers, including All-American selections Anthony Walters and Anthony Bratton at safety. Rapone was named the 2010 FootballScoop NCAA Division I FCS Coordinator of the Year.
Following his move to the NFL, Rapone was with the Arizona Cardinals since 2013 as their defensive backs coach. In 2013 Rapone helped a defense that finished as the NFL’s #6 overall unit and forced 30 takeaways, including 20 INTs which tied for the fifth-best total in the NFL. In 2014 Arizona’s defense allowed just 299 points, the first time the team had allowed fewer than 300 points in a season since 1994 (267). Rapone also led the Cardinals defense to become the fifth ranked defense in the NFL in 2015.
He is returning to Delaware for his second stint with the Blue Hens as their newest cornerbacks coach for the 2018-2019 season.
Coaching Timeline
1979-80—University of Pittsburgh (Graduate Assistant)
1981-82—East Tennessee State (Defensive Backs)
1983-88—Temple (Defensive Coordinator/Secondary)
1989-92—University of Pittsburgh (Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs)
1993-94—New Castle (PA) High School (Head Coach)
1995-98—University of Connecticut (Defensive Coordinator)
1999-2005—Temple (Secondary)
2006-12—University of Delaware (Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs)
2013-17—Arizona Cardinals (Defensive Backs)
2018-Present—University of Delaware (Cornerbacks)
