Delgado came to St. Francis in 1980 after coaching stints in baseball, basketball and tennis at Illinois Tech and Lewis University. He served as Gillespie's top assistant baseball coach with the Saints from 1980 through 1995. When Gillespie announced his retirement, USF promptly named Delgado as his successor. Gillespie didn't stay retired long, though, as he answered his son Bob's call and moved to Ripon to direct the Red Hawks' baseball fortunes for the next 10 seasons. When Delgado announced his own retirement from USF as he was beginning his 10th and final year as head coach in 2005, the Saints quickly moved to bring Gillespie back home and this time the roles were reversed with Gillespie taking over for his longtime friend Delgado. Delgado completed his stint as USF's head coach with a 296-271 (.522) record and led the Saints to eight winning seasons, one .500 campaign and only one losing year.