Being named the Lehigh Valley Health Network Northwestern Press Male Athlete of the Year is just one of the many honors that Deven Bollinger has received. He recently was named to the National Football Foundation’s 2020 Team of Distinction, highlighting the top scholar-athletes from around the country.

Considering that over the past couple of seasons, Bollinger has set and reset many school records on the football field, the long list of honors isn’t surprising.

This past season, Bollinger threw for over 1,900 yards to take his career total to nearly 3,900 yards. His senior season also saw him throw 32 of his 94 career touchdowns, which leaves him fourth on the all-time touchdowns thrown list for District 11. Bollinger’s 32 TD passes broke his record of 30 set just one season earlier. The 6-foot-6 quarterback also completed 124 passes to reset the school record for completions in a season.

Had things gone as planned, Bollinger would have reported to the University of Delaware to start his college football career on June 7. Instead, he’s still at home soaking up some extra time with family and friends.

Much of his time is spent preparing for the day when he does get to head to Newark, Delaware. The coaches have sent him workout plans and fortunately, the Bollinger family has an extensive workout setup at home that allows him to put in all of the necessary work. Much of Bollinger’s program focuses on speed work and weight lifting. Coming into his senior season at Northwestern, the fourth-year starter also worked to improve his speed on the field and it upped his game, leading him to rush for just under 1,000 yards and put eight more touchdowns on his stat line.

The facility at home allows Bollinger to work out with former teammates Connor Snyder and Derek Holmes, who was named the Northwestern Press Male Athlete of the Year just one year ago.

“It’s great to have this extra time with those guys and with my family,” said Bollinger. “Normally, we wouldn’t have had a whole lot of time together, so that’s one benefit of what’s going on.”

The plan was for Bollinger to redshirt for Delaware this season, which would allow him to acclimate himself to the rigors of football and college classes before resuming his football career next season. Now, the coronavirus has changed all of that, but again, Bollinger has found a silver lining.

“I think that mentally, it’s going to be beneficial,” Bollinger believes. “I’ve been able to participate in the quarterback meetings on Zoom and even though I’m not participating in-person, I’m getting a lot out of the meetings and it’s really going to help me. Then with the workouts at home, I don’t think I’ll be behind at all.”

Delaware is hoping to play its football season in the spring, but as with everything, that’s all up in the air. As for classes, the school recently went from deciding to hold a mix of online and in-person classes for the fall semester to having all classes online. For now, move-in is scheduled for the last week in August, giving Bollinger another month to spend with friends and family before he heads off to school.

“I think the fall semester is going to be a little odd,” said Bollinger. “Hopefully, everything will get straightened out and the second semester will be a little more normal for everybody.”