UPPER DARBY — Darrell Dulany spent four years on the coaching staff at The Haverford School and most recently oversaw the Bonner & Prendergast freshman team. The South Philadelphia native has been around good coaches and winning programs his entire career.
When hired to little fanfare in the winter by Upper Darby, without so much as a public acknowledgement by the school district, the civil engineer and former University of Rhode Island defensive back went right to work to turn around a Royals program that has had one winning season since 2016.
It is a program that under David Barr, a respected coach who stepped down last November, went through the ringer last year, playing all games on the road because the turf at Upper Darby Memorial Field was deemed unplayable. The field is currently under construction and the plan is for the Royals to play their home games at Drexel Hill Middle School.
Dulany stresses structure and discipline and runs a well-organized practice, influenced by his time as a high school player at Valley Forge Military Academy.
“I carry that from all of the other places I’ve been before I got here. Discipline and structure is something that I carry throughout my life, so now I’m implementing it to my program,” Dulany said. “I went to Valley Forge Military and that’s where I got it from. And it also comes from what I learned at Rhode Island and then spending four years at Haverford School really helped shape me into the coach I am today, seeing how that program is run.”
The Royals have an entirely new cast of starting players save for senior linebacker Kamar Perlote and senior lineman Kaleel McLaughlin. Perlote earned All-Central League accolades last fall.
The No. 1 quarterback position was a competition between sophomore Josmanny Martinez and senior Joseph Sarjoo. Junior Jaylen Johnson will see a lot of action at running back. Sarjoo and Johnson transferred from Bonner & Prendergast. Kobena Okyne is also expected to get touches out of the backfield. Senior linemen Tommy Wetling and Justin Bateman have impressed in camp as well.
“Being in my first year here, I’m going to have my challenges and ups and downs but I have a lot of confidence in my team, just for the simple fact that we’ve been doing this since late January. So the time it takes for a lot of teams to build that team chemistry over a two-week camp, we’ve been doing it for months,” Dulany said. “When we came into camp, it wasn’t like everybody’s just coming back from vacation or coming back from whatever break they’re on. We were already on it. So, I don’t feel like I’m too far behind, but I know I’ve got to learn how the Central League works. And once I understand that I think it will be smooth sailing for us as we continue to get better.”
Dulany has filled his staff with young coaches who share a similar vision. Defensive backs coach Al-Hajj Shabazz played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and graduated from Bartram High and West Chester University.
“I’m a disciplinarian and so is every coach on the staff,” Dulany said. “The expectations we have for the players, they know we actually played at a high level, too. So they know what to expect from us.”
The Royals open the season with four consecutive road games against West Chester Henderson, Lower Merion, Marple Newtown and Conestoga.
