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Delgado Accepts the Aztecs' Defensive Torch from Mentor
By Ed Graney, San Diego Union-Tribune
Dec. 3, 1999
It still hangs in Ken Delgado's office, that picture from 1988, the one with then-San Jose State football coach Claude Gilbert being carried off the field after his Spartans won a conference championship. The same Gilbert who coached Delgado at San Jose, who gave Delgado his first assistant's job, who nurtured and taught and groomed Delgado for this day. The same Gilbert whom Delgado will replace as San Diego State's defensive coordinator. SDSU head coach Ted Tollner has tabbed his six-year defensive line coach as the man to assume control of the team's vastly improved defense, which ended this season ranked 16th nationally and yet graduates nine starters. "It feels like a passing of the torch from (Gilbert)," said Delgado, 38. "What can I say about him, the man who gave me my first chance? . . . "This isn't just another job to me. It means much more than that. I have a burning desire to continue what we have started here on defense. My goal is to maintain and sustain the high level of play. "No question, it will be a challenge. But I'm very excited. We'll have a lot of young players, but they're going to come back very familiar with our scheme. Hopefully, we can get out of the gate fast because nothing will change with our approach to playing defense. It won't be a steep learning curve." Gilbert retired Saturday after 40 years of coaching, his final game SDSU's 39-7 rout of Wyoming. Tollner, in promoting Delgado, keeps continuity within a defensive staff that includes secondary coach Fred Bleil and linebackers coach Kennedy Pola. Tollner hopes to hire a defensive line coach within 4-6 weeks. "(Delgado) has been involved with every step of the evolution of this defensive scheme," said Tollner. "He is an excellent teacher and a very hard worker and extremely organized. I feel really good about this. It's a great opportunity for Kenny." Delgado's experience comes up front, where he played and has coached five all-conference linemen (La'Roi Glover, Avo Avetisyan, Adrian Ioja, Kabeer Gbajabiamila and Jerome Haywood) at SDSU. That's not to say his knowledge of the secondary is lacking. All coverage packages are tied into pressure. One shakes the other's hand. But it certainly won't hurt having the experience of Bleil, a former defensive coordinator at New Mexico, working with cornerbacks and safeties. "It's not like I'm starting out with a bad hand," said Delgado. "I've got a few great trump cards in (Bleil and Pola). This is a quality staff." Delgado and Gilbert are close on and off the field -- yet so different in personality. Gilbert is the fiery, emotional leader who at times ranted and raved to make a point. He waved his arms. He threw his hat. Last year, he even did a partial strip-tease to get his side's attention. He did. Quickly. Delgado is the large man with the soft voice, a coach whose facial expression alone can shake a player's knees. His linemen have for six years either toed the line or faced the consequences. "I think my personality as a coordinator will evolve over time," said Delgado, highly respected within recruiting circles. "If you look at the guys I have coached, at my personal relationships with them and the discipline I demand, I think you'll see the same thing with just a larger group." Said Gbajabiamila: "He's a very tough and yet a very fair coach. The best thing about him is that he treats everyone equal. It doesn't matter how good a player you are, Coach Delgado expects the same effort and work ethic from every player. He'll do a great job. He deserves this. He's more than qualified." Delgado played at San Jose State in 1982-83, was a graduate assistant in '86-87 and the defensive line coach from '88-92. He spent the '93 season coaching the defensive line at Utah.
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