Navy’s Ed DeChellis retires after 29 seasons as a head coach

Navy coach Ed DeChellis announced his retirement on Wednesday after coaching 426 games over 14 seasons at the Academy.

DeChellis, 66, surpassed Ben Carnevale (417) for most games coached at the school earlier this season. He went 196-230 at Navy, including 15-19 this season.

“It has been a great honor to serve at the Naval Academy and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach so many exceptional young men,” DeChellis said in the news release. “I would like to thank (athletic director) Chet Gladchuk for giving me that opportunity 14 years ago and for his support and extraordinary leadership during my tenure.

“The Naval Academy represents a set of timeless values that form the bedrock of our nation. I am proud to have played a small role in advancing those values through sport. I owe a debt of gratitude to all of the players that placed their trust in me and to the talented coaches and other staff members that worked alongside me to help each of our players reach their full potential on and off the court.”

DeChellis also coached East Tennessee State (1996-2003) and Penn State (2003-2011) prior to this stint at Navy. Both those schools made the NCAA Tournament in his final season as coach. In 2009, he guided Penn State to the NIT title.

Overall, DeChellis had a 415-461 record and topped 100 wins at each of the schools he coached.

DeChellis’ streak of 29 consecutive seasons as head coach is the sixth-longest in NCAA Division I history, trailing Rick Barnes (38 seasons), Dana Altman (36), Bill Self (32), Tom Izzo (30) and Steve Alford (30).

Associate coach Jon Perry was named interim coach. Navy said it will conduct a national search for a new coach.

–Field Level Media