Jan. 10, 2008

Written by the AFCA offices | AFCA.com

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The American Football Coaches Association capped its 2008 convention by presenting its top coaching award -- AFCA Coach of the Year -- to five outstanding coaches today (Jan. 9).

Kansas' Mark Mangino, Appalachian State's Jerry Moore, Valdosta State's David Dean, Wisconsin-Whitewater's Lance Leipold and Carroll's (Mont.) Mike Van Diest are the 2007 AFCA National Coach of the Year winners. Mangino in the FBS, Moore in the FCS, Dean in Division II, Leipold in Division III and Van Diest in the NAIA.

The winners are selected by a vote of the Active AFCA members (coaches at four-year schools) in the Association's five divisions. The AFCA has named a Coach of the Year since 1935. The AFCA Coach of the Year award is the oldest and most prestigious of all the Coach of the Year awards and is the only one chosen exclusively by the coaches themselves.

Mark Mangino led the Jayhawks to a 12-1 record and a victory in the FedEx Orange Bowl. The 12 wins are a school record and the Orange Bowl appearance is the first traditional New Year's Day bowl trip for Kansas since 1969. He is the first coach in school history to lead his teams to three bowl appearances.

Jerry Moore led the Mountaineers to a 13-2 record, a third consecutive Football Championship Subdivision title and a stunning season-opening victory over Michigan to earn AFCA National Coach of the Year honors for the third year in a row. The national title was the third consecutive championship for the Mountaineers. The winningest coach in the history of the Southern Conference, Moore's teams have made 13 postseason appearances and 14 of his 18 teams have finished the season ranked in the NCAA FCS Top 25.

David Dean led the Blazers to a 13-1 record and the NCAA Division II championship in 2007 to earn AFCA National Coach of the Year honors in his first sesaon as a head coach. Dean is just the second coach in Division II history to win a national championship in his inaugural season as a head coach. He served as Valdosta State's offensive coordinator when the school captured the Division II title in 2004.

Lance Leipold led the Warhawks to a 14-1 record, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title and their first NCAA Division III championship in his first season as a head coach. Wisconsin-Whitewater was 14-0 against Division III competition this season, suffering its lone loss against Division II St. Cloud State. Leipold is the second coach from Whitewater to win AFCA National Coach of the Year honors in the last three seasons.

Mike Van Diest led the Saints to a 15-0 record, an eighth Frontier Conference championship and a fifth NAIA national championship in the last six years in 2007. Carroll is 104-18 over the last eight seasons. The AFCA honor is the second for Van Diest, who shared AFCA Division II honors with Grand Valley State's Brian Kelly in 2003.

The winners were honored Wednesday evening at the AFCA Coach of the Year Dinner at the Anaheim Hilton.

AFCF Grants
The full-time assistant coaches at the five schools represented by the AFCA National Coach of the Year winners will each receive a $1,000 grant from the American Football Coaches Foundation that can be used to further their education or professional development.

Award History
Lynn "Pappy" Waldorf, then of Northwestern, was named as the first AFCA Coach of the Year in 1935. One national winner was selected from 1935 through 1959.

From 1960 through 1982, two national winners were selected -- one representing the University Division and one from the College Division. From 1983-2005, four national winners were chosen. In 2006, the AFCA began honoring an NAIA Coach of the Year, giving us the five honorees we have today.
Prior to 2006, the NAIA was a part of the AFCA's Division II membership category.

Oldest Award
The AFCA's Coach of the Year award is the oldest of all Coach of the Year awards and is one of only two Coach of the Year awards recognized by the NCAA in FBS and the only Coach of the Year award recognized in the NCAA's three other divisions. The NCAA does not select a "coach of the year" for college football. When a coach is referred to as "NCAA Coach of the Year," he is usually the AFCA Coach of the Year winner.

Voting Process: The current balloting procedure involves selection of 25 regional winners: five regional winners in each of the five AFCA divisions. Following regional voting, five national winners are chosen. All schools with eligible AFCA head coaches are listed on the national ballots and members are not limited to voting for regional winners.

All-Time Winners: A total of 140 men representing 101 institutions have been honored by the AFCA as AFCA National Coach of the Year since the program was established in 1935.

First Time Winners: Kansas' Mark Mangino, Valdosta State's David Dean and Wisconsin-Whitewater's Lance Leipold earned their first AFCA National Coach of the Year Awards in 2007.

Most Schools: Jim Tressel is the only coach to win AFCA National Coach of the Year honors at two different schools and the first to win the honor in two different divisions. Tressel earned AFCA honors at Division I-A Ohio State in 2002 and Division I-AA Youngstown State in 1991 and 1994.

Top Individuals: Larry Kehres of Mount Union is the only coach in AFCA history to win National Coach of the Year honors eight times. He has earned the award in Mount Union's national championship seasons of 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2006. Joe Paterno of Penn State earned his Division I-A fifth National Coach of the Year Award in 2005 (1968-72-82-86). Bob Reade of Augustana (Ill.) College is the only four-time AFCA Coach of the Year winner. Reade earned the honor in 1983-84-85-86 in College Division II (Now Division III). Appalachian State's Jerry Moore (2005-06-07) joins Youngstown State and Ohio State coach Jim Tressel (1991-94-2003), Alabama's Bear Bryant (1961, 1971, 1973) and North Alabama's Bobby Wallace (1993-94-95) are the only three-time Coach of the Year winners. Moore, Wallace, Reade and Kehres are the only coaches to win the award in three or more consecutive seasons.

Top Schools: Mount Union is the only institution to have a representative win the AFCA National Coach of the Year Award eight times. Georgia Southern and Penn State are the only schools with five winners. Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Augustana (Ill.), Grand Valley State, North Dakota State and Wittenberg have had representatives win AFCA national awards four times.

Larry Kehres has won all eight awards for Mount Union (1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006). Paul Johnson (1999, 2000), Erk Russell (1986, 1989) and Tim Stowers (1990) are Georgia Southern's honorees. Lloyd Carr (1997), Fritz Crisler (1947), Bennie Oosterbaan (1948) and Bo Schembechler (1969) are Michigan's winners. Bill Edwards (1962, 1963) and Dave Maurer (1973, 1975), his successor, are responsible for Wittenberg being listed in the select group. North Dakota State's national winners are Don Morton (1983), Earle Solomonson (1986) and Rocky Hager (1988, 1990). Gene Stallings earned Coach of the Year honors in 1992 to join three-time winner Bear Bryant as Alabama's winners. Penn State's Paterno and Augustana's Reade account for all of their school's awards. Ohio State's Jim Tressel joins Carroll Widdoes (1944), Woody Hayes (1957) and Earle Bruce (1979) as one of the four Buckeye coaches to win the award. Chuck Martin (2005-2006) joins Brian Kelly (2002-2003) as the winners from Grand Valley State.

Jerry Moore's three consecutive Coach of the Year awards makes Appalachian State one of only four schools with three winners. The Mountaineers join USC John McKay, 1962, 1972; Pete Carroll, 2003), Furman (Dick Sheridan, 1985; Jimmy Satterfield, 1988; Bobby Johnson, 2001) and North Alabama (Bobby Wallace, 1993-94-95) in the triple winner category.

Two-Timers: Coaches who have been two-time national winners in addition to Chuck Martin, Brian Kelly, Jim Tressel, Paul Johnson, Bill Edwards, Dave Maurer, John McKay, Rocky Hager and Erk Russell are: Mike Van Diest, Carroll (Mont.) (2003, 2007), Darrell Royal, Texas (1963, 1970); Harold "Tubby" Raymond, Delaware (1971-72); Joe Glenn, Northern Colorado (1996-97); Mel Tjeerdsma, Northwest Missouri State (1998-99); and Jim Butterfield, Ithaca (1988, 1991).

Back-to-Back: Paul Johnson, Bill Edwards, Bob Reade, Tubby Raymond, Bobby Wallace, Joe Glenn, Larry Kehres, Mel Tjeerdsma, Brian Kelly, Jerry Moore and Chuck Martin are the only coaches to win national honors in consecutive years. No I-A coach has won the award in consecutive years. Kehres is the only coach to win three consecutive Coach of the Year awards twice.

Fit to be Tied: In 2003, Brian Kelly and Mike Van Diest became the fourth duo in the history of the AFCA National Coach of the Year award to finish in a tie for the honor and the first non-I-A coaches to share the award. Larry Coker and Ralph Friedgen finished in a tie for the honor in 2001. In 1964, Frank Broyles of Arkansas and Ara Parseghian of Notre Dame shared the award and in 1970 Charlie McClendon of Louisiana State and Darrell Royal of Texas were co-winners.

Like Father, Like Son: Jim Tressel and his father, Lee are the only father-son combination to win Coach of the Year honors in AFCA history. Lee Tressel was named College Division Coach of the Year in 1978 at Baldwin-Wallace.

AFCA Coach of the Year Bios

Football Bowl Subdivision
Mark Mangino, University of Kansas
First AFCA National Coach of the Year Award ... Led the Jayhawks to a 12-1 record and a victory in the FedEx Orange Bowl ... Has a six-year career record of 37-36 (.506) at Kansas ... The 12 wins are a school record and the Orange Bowl appearance is the first traditional New Year's Day bowl trip for Kansas since 1969 ... Kansas has posted a 25-12 record in the last three seasons ... He is the first coach in school history to lead his teams to three bowl appearances in a span of five seasons ... Kansas has now won six or more games in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1960-61-62 ... Served as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma during the Sooners' national championship season in 2000.
Previous AFCA Regional Coach of the Year Honors: FBS Region 4, 2007

Football Championship Subdivision
Jerry Moore, Appalachian State University
Third consecutive AFCA National Coach of the Year Award ... Led the Mountaineers to a 13-2 record, a third consecutive Football Championship Subdivision title and a stunning season-opening victory over Michigan to earn AFCA National Coach of the Year honors for the third year in a row ... The national title was the third consecutive championship for the Mountaineers ... Has a 19-year record of 167-69 (.699) at Appalachian State and a 25-year career record of 194-118-2 (.618) at Appalachian State, North Texas and Texas Tech ... Winningest coach in Southern Conference history ... Earned his second AFCA Coach of the Year Award in 2006 when he led Appalachian State to a 14-1 record, the Southern Conference title and the NCAA Division I-AA championship ... Earned his first AFCA Coach of the Year award in 2005 when led Appalachian State to a 12-3 record, the Southern Conference title and the NCAA Division I-AA championship ... The Mountaineers have advanced to the NCAA FCS playoffs 13 times, while 14 of his 18 ASU squads have finished the season ranked among the nation's top 25 FCS teams.
Previous AFCA Regional Coach of the Year Honors: I-AA Region 2, 1994-95-2005-06
Previous AFCA National Coach of the Year Honors: FCS, 2005, 2006

Division II
David Dean, Valdosta State University
First AFCA National Coach of the Year Award ... Led the Blazers to a 13-1 record and the NCAA Division II championship in 2007 to earn AFCA National Coach of the Year honors in his first sesaon as a head coach ... Dean is just the second coach in Division II history to win a national championship in his inaugural season as a head coach ... In seven seasons as VSU's offensive coordinator from 2000-2006, the Blazers recorded a 76-12 record and won the Division II title in 2004.

Division III
Lance Leipold, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
First AFCA National Coach of the Year Award ... Led the Warhawks to a 14-1 record, the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title and their first NCAA Division III championship in his first season as a head coach ... Wisconsin-Whitewater was 14-0 against Division III competition this season, suffering its lone loss against Division II St. Cloud State ... The Warhawks appeared in the Stagg Bowl for the third year in a row this season ... Leipold is the second coach from Whitewater to win AFCA National Coach of the Year honors in the last three seasons ... Prior to being named the head coach at his alma mater, Leipold spent the previous three seasons as the offensive coordinator and associate head coach at the University of Nebraska-Omaha where he helped lead the Mavericks to three consecutive conference titles.

NAIA
Mike Van Diest, Carroll College (Mont.)
Second AFCA National Coach of the Year Award ... Led the Saints to a 15-0 record, an eighth Frontier Conference championship and a fifth NAIA national championship in the last six years in 2007 ... Has a nine-year career record of 104-18 (.852) at Carroll ... The AFCA honor is the second for Van Diest, who shared AFCA Division II honors with Grand Valley State's Brian Kelly in 2003 (Prior to 2006, AFCA Division II consisted of NCAA Division II and NAIA schools for Coach of the Year purposes).
Previous AFCA National Coach of the Year Honors: AFCA Division II, 2003