Matt Simon will not return as the University of Delaware football team’s offensive coordinator after two seasons, UD announced Tuesday.

Delaware (7-5) ranked 10th in the 12-team Colonial Athletic Association in total offense (300.4 yards per game) despite returning to the NCAA playoffs after a seven-season absence.

In last Saturday’s 20-6 FCS playoff loss at James Madison, Delaware didn’t get a first down on its first six possessions and managed just 185 total yards. The Blue Hens managed only two field goals in that game and one in a 17-3 loss at Stony Brook two weeks before.

“Coach Simon and I met on Monday to discuss our 2018 season, as well as to look towards the future of our program,” coach Danny Rocco said in a UD statement. “During the course of this meeting, we both mutually agreed to part ways.”

While Delaware showed much-needed improvement in its passing game this season, the Blue Hens had difficulty running the football effectively.

Delaware is 11th among CAA teams in rushing offense, long a UD strength, averaging 105.3 yards per game. That's 85 yards fewer than last year. Delaware’s 3.0 yards per carry also ranks 11th.

Overall, Delaware is tied for seventh in the CAA in scoring offense (24.4 points per game) and eighth in passing offense (195.1 yards per game).

Simon, 64, had spent six seasons as running backs coach at the University of Buffalo before he was hired as Delaware’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in January, 2017, a month after Danny Rocco’s hiring as head coach.

Delaware's in-game play caller, Simon moved to coaching running backs in 2018, when former James Madison, Buffalo and Florida A&M head coach Alex Wood was brought in as quarterbacks coach.

Simon’s 41-year coaching career included serving on 1991 national champion Washington’s staff, a four-season stint as head coach at North Texas from 1994-97 and 10 seasons in the NFL, including with the Baltimore Ravens’ 2000 Super Bowl champs as running backs coach.

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @kevintresolini.

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