The Blue Hens’ linebacker room returns five contributors from 2024, including a pair of All-CAA Honorable Mention selectees.
Graduate student Dillon Trainer (44) and junior Gavin Moul (71), who led the team in tackles a season ago, will pair up once again in the middle of the defense. Delaware Special Teams Coordinator and Linebackers Coach Rocco DiMeco emphasized their strong chemistry after playing a lot of snaps alongside each other these past two seasons. “They communicate really well and they’re just on the same page. They see things the same at this point.”
The 2025 season will be the eighth consecutive year that a Trainer has worn Blue and Gold between the hashes on Tubby Raymond Field. Dillon, a two-time captain and now sixth-year member of the football program, followed in his older brother Liam’s (2018-22) footsteps as a Blue Hen. “I think this is a place that’s really helped shape me into the young man I am today, and I’m super grateful for everything that Delaware has done for me,” he proclaimed. In 43 career games played, Dillon has 131 total tackles, 9 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery, and an interception returned for a touchdown. And now to wrap up his accomplished collegiate career? Leading the defense in the program’s first season in FBS. “Taken into the finality of looking back with the attitude of gratitude, but looking forward with the mindset that it’s not finished yet. We still have a lot of work to do.”
Standing beside Trainer, Moul had a breakout 2024 sophomore campaign. Leading the team in tackles, Moul also ranked second with six tackles for loss, had six quarterback hurries, two pass break ups, a forced fumble, and two interceptions. Eyeing an even stronger junior year, Gavin noted his focused offseason work on his technique. “Both steps and where I’m looking pre-snap, my vision to the quarterback, where my eyes are on certain plays, watching film the right way… I think that’s the biggest part of my game,” Moul described. As a 2023 prospect from Bethel Park High School in southern Pittsburgh, Moul didn’t receive a lot of FBS opportunities. “I got looks, but no one pulled the trigger to necessarily give me the chance to play it. Now that I am on the pedestal to show myself at the higher level, it’s a great opportunity.”
Also returning in the linebacker room are graduate student Marje Mulumba and senior Blake Matthews, who both saw action in all 11 games last season. Mulumba, who transferred to Delaware from Stonehill in 2023 after receiving 2022 All-NEC Second Team honors, recorded 34 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks with five starts in 2024. “Marje is a guy who played a ton of snaps last year. He’s been very consistent for us,” DiMeco stated. Matthews had 16 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a sack in his first season as a Hen after transferring from Troy. In preseason camp, he has been working as the “bandit” on defense, a hybrid linebacker position left from Ty Davis’s transfer to Temple. “Blake has been settling in the bandit role. It’s been good to get him a ton of reps,” DiMeco added.
Not new to the program, but new to the linebacker room, junior Anthony Crenshaw Jr. is now the most recent safety-to-linebacker convert on the roster. Crenshaw Jr. also has been taking snaps in the bandit role. DiMeco commented, “We knew he had the ability to do it, so we’re building consistent depth there. It’s created a lot of really good competition.” Adding to the linebacker depth are sophomores Colin Gallagher and Meikhi Cuttino, who both redshirted in 2024. “I think both of them probably came in a little bit ahead of a typical freshman in understanding the scheme and the game of football,” DiMeco praised when discussing their offseason growth. “They’ve done an incredible job, and I feel really good about their development moving forward.”
In addition to the returnees, the program also signed a trio of linebackers to the room. Junior Jawarren Corbin is the latest Iowa Central Community College athlete to sign with Delaware, following the footsteps of Zach Marker and James Yelbert Jr. “At Iowa Central, Zach was a big deal there. We had a couple texts before I came here, congratulating me and just letting me know how much Delaware feels like home,” Corbin described. With Iowa Central having a similar 3-3-5 defensive scheme as Delaware, Corbin’s familiarity with the system has eased the offseason transition. “(Jawarren) is an incredible kid that has a lot of upside. He’s a big, physical linebacker who’s going to play in the box the majority of the time. He’s going to be a really good system fit for us,” DiMeco expressed.
Along with Corbin, the room received a pair of high school additions in Gevaris Lassiter and Julius Puryear. Lassiter, a 2024 First-Team All-WCAC selectee, recorded over 60 tackles in both junior and senior seasons at Bishop McNamara in Maryland. Puryear, a 3-star prospect from Jensen Beach, Florida, set the Jensen Bench High School record for tackles, finishing his career with 252 total.
Rounding out the linebackers are senior Sean Quick and juniors Mekhi Carmon, Chris Collot. Carmon appeared in all 11 games last season, primarily on special teams. Collot saw action in 2 games, making his debut against Bryant last fall.
“The key thing for these guys, and really probably for everybody, is to not press,” DiMeco concluded on where this experienced group needs to improve from last season. “If all eleven guys on the defense can be on the same page with that, we’re going to be just fine.”
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