Special to the Lehigh Acres Gazette
The Riverdale High School Raiders are excited to announce James Delgado as their new head football coach. Coach Delgado comes to Riverdale from Apopka High School where he served as Assistant Coach. With Delgado as the Assistant Coach the team made three state championship appearances, winning two of them.
After interviewing at Riverdale the day after Thanksgiving, the 31-year-old knew it was a place he wanted to be. On Friday he became the Raiders football coach, replacing Tom Roszell, who went 2-7 in 2016.
Coach Delgado is a graduate of Apopka High School where he played on the school’s 2001 state championship team. He went on to play college football at Webber International University where he served as team captain. After receiving his Bachelor’s degree in finance, he coached at the university and served as a recruiter. During that time, he also earned his Master’s Degree in Sports Management.
Coach Delgado has developed some of the nation’s top offensive linemen like Martez Ivey (Offensive Tackle, Florida Gators) and Ty Darlington, (Center, Oklahoma Sooners) and has produced three individual 1,000-yard rushers for three consecutive years in 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Throughout his career, Coach Delgado has placed athletes at every collegiate level and has forged a multitude of relationships with college recruiters.