Dele Harding (pronounced DAY-lay) coached one season as the assistant running backs coach for the Illinois football program in 2024. 

Harding returned to a familiar setting, coming back to Illinois where he was a standout linebacker for the Fighting Illini from 2016-19. In his role as assistant running backs coach, he is reunited with assistant head coach/running backs coach Thad Ward, who was an assistant during the first three seasons of Harding’s time on the field for the Orange and Blue.

During the 2024 season as assistant running backs coach, the running back room was key to the Fighting Illini’s offensive success. Illinois went 10-3, tying the single-season record for wins, and finishing the regular season ranked #20 by the College Football Playoff. The Illini capped the year with a victory over #14 South Carolina in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, as Josh McCray ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns to earn Citrus Bowl MVP honors. The Illini’s top four backs – Kaden Feagin, Aidan Laughery, McCray, and Ca’Lil Valentine – combined for 1,716 yards and 19 touchdowns. McCray led the way with 609 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns, tied for the 8th-most rushing touchdowns in a single season in Illinois history, while Laughery was right behind him with 589 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. Feagin averaged a team-high 61.2 yards per game and scored three touchdowns through five games before a season-ending injury, and true Valentine emerged as one of the top freshman backs in the Big Ten, posting more than 200 yards on the ground.

During his playing career, Harding was a two-time team captain, earning the distinction in both his junior and senior seasons. As a senior in 2019, he helped lead the Illini to a berth in the Redbox Bowl. That season he was voted the team's Defensive MVP, earned All-Big Ten First Team honors (media), and was named to the Phil Steele All-America Third Team after ranking second in the nation and first in the Big Ten with 153 tackles (68 solo), the sixth-highest single-season mark in program history. Harding also paced the team in tackles for loss (14.5) and forced fumbles (3), and tied for the team lead with three interceptions, including two returns for touchdowns, during his final year.  

Following his playing career at Illinois, Harding spent the 2020 season as a student assistant for the Orange and Blue and began his coaching career in earnest as a defensive assistant for the NFL’s Houston Texans in 2022, working under his former Illini head coach Lovie Smith.

In 2023, Harding continued his coaching path as a defensive analyst at the University of Houston where he worked alongside current Illini linebackers coach Archie McDaniel.

Harding served as a defensive assistant for the Indianapolis Colts during training camp in 2023, and with the Cleveland Browns during OTAs in Spring 2024, both as part of the NFL’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellows program.

Harding graduated from Illinois in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology.

Coaching Career