Delaware County Sports Hall of Fame
WEST CHESTER, Pa.-The Delaware County Sports Hall of Fame has selected its latest group of esteemed athletes with ties to Delaware County for its 2025 Hall of Fame Class. Among the inductees is legendary football coach Bill Zwaan, who led the Golden Rams for 21 seasons until his retirement at the end of the 2023 season. Zwaan will enter the Delaware County Sports Hall of Fame on Sunday, April 27 alongside Karen Emas Borbee, Jim Connor, Peggy Cellucci, Elizabeth Curran, Rocco Fantazzi, Jen Freemas, Gene Fieger, Casey Grugan, Cynthia Howard, Barry Kirsch, Kristen Mastroprieto, Ed Monaghan, and Don Saleski.
The 85
th anniversary banquet is set for Sunday, April 27, at the Ballroom at the Phoenix (1661 Mill Rd. Boothwyn, PA 19061). The social Hour will begin at 4 p.m., followed by Dinner at 5 p.m. The deadline for tickets as an individual or to purchase a table is April 18, 2025. Tickets are $90 per person ($30 for children 12 and under). More information on the event along with a link to purchase tickets is available
here.
In his two decades at the helm of the Golden Rams, Zwaan authored a record of 162-76 with six PSAC Eastern Division crowns and an outright PSAC Championship crown in 2018 after vanquishing Slippery Rock on the road in that PSAC Championship game. A five-time Coach of the Year honoree at WCU, Zwaan guided the Golden Rams to the NCAA Playoffs a program-record 10 times and steered the Institution to the national semifinals twice. Zwaan's 21 years of service to Golden Ram football remains the second-longest stint as a head coach in school history.
In his head coaching career overall, Zwaan is 216-90, including his six seasons at Division III Widener University in Chester. Zwaan still owns the highest winning percentage in school history at Widener and helped lead the Pride to the DIII national semifinals before assuming control of the Golden Rams.
Throughout his 26-year head coaching career, Zwaan has been the catalyst for the Promise Program at West Chester University, donated his time to the Autism Awareness Programs in the Philadelphia area, helped spearhead the "Be The Match" bone marrow program headlined by former Villanova head coach Andy Talley, gotten involved with the Thanksgiving Dinner Project through the Neuman Center on WCU's campus, partnered with the Intellectually Disabled Students Internship Program supported through the Ram Initiative Program and worked with the Travis Manion Foundation Heroes Run … and that is just the tip of the iceberg for Zwaan's community engagement.
Before beginning his coaching career, the Havertown native was a quarterback for the University of Delaware from 1973-75. Zwaan completed 194 passes on 392 attempts for 2,967 yards and 23 touchdowns in his career as a Blue Hen. Posting a career record of 21-5 as a starter between the 1974 and 75 seasons, Zwaan registered 12 consecutive games with a touchdown pass, tied for second-best in program history, trailing only current Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.
