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Contact: Aaron S. Lee
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Jan. 6, 2003

AFM PRESENTS 2002 SCHUTT SPORTS COACH OF THE YEAR WINNERS

NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. – With yet another football season behind us, American Football Monthly magazine is pleased to announce the winners of the annual 2002 Schutt Sports Coach of the Year awards. The Schutt Sports Coach of the Year award honors extraordinary achievement both on and off the field. It rewards not only excellence, but also character. It symbolizes everything that makes men into winners, and winners into champions. Winners of each division category are as follows:

Div. 1-A—Larry Coker, University of Miami (Runners-up: Jim Tressel, Ohio State; Kirk Ferentz, Iowa; Tyrone Willingham, Notre Dame; Pete Carroll, Southern Cal)
Div. 1-AA—Dave Clawson, Fordham (Runners-up: Don Brown, Northeastern; Mike Sewak, Georgia Southern; Tommy Tate, McNeese State)
Div. II—Chris Hatcher, Valdosta State (Runners-up: John Zamberlin, Central Washington; Bob Nielson, Minnesota-Duluth; Bryan Collins, C.W. Post)
Division III—John Gagliardi, St. John’s (Minn.) (Runners-up: Pete Fredenburg, Mary Hardin-Baylor, Regis Scafe, John Carroll; Jay Accorsi, Rowan)
NAIA—Paul Troth, Missouri Valley College (Runners-up: Scott Frear, St. Mary’s College (Kan.); Kevin Donley, St. Francis (Ind.); Bill Cronnin, Georgetown (Ky.))
Junior College—Bert Williams, Georgia Military College (Runners-up: Bob Larson, Garden City Community College (Kan.); Tony Caviglia, Fresno City College (Calif.))

Division 1-A Winner, Larry Coker, University of Miami
Larry Coker, in only his second season as a head coach, has lost just one game (24-1). He was the first rookie head coach in 53 years to coach his team to the national title and only the second ever to do so. In just his second year, he finished with a 13-0 regular season record before falling to No. 2 Ohio State in Miami’s second national championship game in two years. Although the Hurricanes have had to rally for several of their victories this season, they have always managed to overcome some slow starts and have played flawlessly down the stretch in several big games. Even with an enormous amount of talent turnover at Miami, Coker has proved that he is an excellent program manager.

Division 1-A Runner Up, Jim Tressel, Ohio State
Jim Tressel, who was 7-5 last season with the Buckeyes, is also in his second season at Ohio State. In fact, Tressel actually interviewed for the Miami job a decade ago when he was head coach at Youngstown State. Tressel guided YSU to four Division I-AA national championships. The Buckeyes used both a solid defense and a conservative offense to achieve an untarnished regular season mark of 14-0 – including an upset of No. 1 ranked Miami in the national championship game. Ohio State had not won a national title since the 1968 season.

Division 1-A Runner Up, Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Kirk Ferentz, in his fourth season as head coach at Iowa, slowly has rebuilt the Hawkeyes’ program and stepped out of legendary Iowa coach Hayden Fry’s shadow. The Hawkeyes entered the Orange Bowl with a nine-game winning streak before losing 38-17 to Southern Cal. Iowa finished with a 9-0 record in the Big Ten Conference, however, Ohio State and Iowa did not play this season. The Hawkeyes' only loss of the regular season came to archrival Iowa State, 36-31.

Division 1-A Runner Up, Tyrone Willingham, Notre Dame
Tyrone Willingham's 10 victories in his first season in South Bend are the most for any rookie Fighting Irish head coach. Willingham led Notre Dame to a 10-2 regular-season record in 2002. And the Fighting Irish had visions of playing for the national championship until late-season losses to Boston College and USC sent the Fighting Irish to the Gator Bowl. Under Willingham, Notre Dame defeated four ranked teams in a row – Maryland, Michigan, Air Force and Florida State. The Irish lost 28-6 to North Carolina State in the Gator Bowl.

Division 1-A Runner Up, Pete Carroll, Southern Cal
Pete Carroll, who is 17-8 overall as a college head coach, has revived Southern Cal football. Under Carroll, the Trojans finished the 2002 campaign at 10-2 with seven straight victories, including wins over Washington, Oregon, UCLA and a 44-13 thumping of Notre Dame. According to many of the nation’s top college football experts, USC could be the strongest team in the nation at season’s end as they thumped Iowa 38-17 in the Orange Bowl.

Division I-AA Winner, Dave Clawson, Fordham
Under Dave Clawson, Fordham made the Division I-AA playoffs for the first time since joining in 1989. The Rams (10-3) also won the Patriot League conference crown and defeated another I-AA upstart, Atlantic 10 champion, Northeastern, in first round action.

Division II Winner, Chris Hatcher, Valdosta State
Valdosta State’s Chris Hatcher just keeps winning football games. Even without quarterback Dusty Bonner, the Blazers finished the regular season with a perfect 11-0 mark and ranked No. 2 nationally in Division II. Hatcher has won 36 of his 40 games at Valdosta State during his three years at the helm even though he has lost five assistant coaches to Division I ranks. Valdosta State (14-1) lost the 2002 national championship game to No. 1 ranked Grand Valley State (Mich.).

Division III Winner, John Gagliardi, St. John’s (Minn.)
At 76 years old, John Gagliardi is still going strong. The legendary coaching icon wrapped up his 50th season just one win away from playing for the Division III national title. Gagliardi, who lost just his 114th college football game, won No. 400 a week before the Johnnies (12-2) were sent home 41-34 by Trinity (Texas). In fact, Gagliardi needs just eight more wins to tie him with Eddie Robinson, the only other collegiate coach with 400 or more victories.

NAIA Winner, Paul Troth, Missouri Valley College
Paul Troth is in his first year at Missouri Valley College, a program that went 5-5 last season. Troth started this season 4-0 before finishing 8-2 with their only losses coming from Benedictine and Mid-America Nazarene, both playoff qualifiers. The Vikings cracked the national rankings for the first time in four years. Turning programs around is nothing new to Troth, who turned Huron University into a perennial playoff contender.

Junior College Winner, Bert Williams, Georgia Military College
In just his second year at the helm, Bert Williams, who is both athletic director and head football coach, guided his Georgia Military College football squad to a 10-0 overall regular season record and a No. 1 ranking after capturing the NJCAA national championship in 2001. He had served previously as the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach at GMC.


The Schutt Sports national and regional high school coaches of the year are as follows:

National Coach of the Year: Bob Ladouceur, De La Salle (Concord, Calif.)
East Regional Coach of the Year: George Novak, Woodland Hills (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Southeast Regional Coach of the Year: Tommy Knotts, Independence (Charlotte, N.C.)
Midwest Regional Coach of the Year: Tony Severino, Rockhurst (Kansas City, Mo.)
Southwest Regional Coach of the Year: J.T. Curtis, John Curtis Christian (River Ridge, La.)
West Regional Coach of the Year: John Barnes, Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, Calif.)

Schutt Sports is a privately owned group of companies dedicated to providing innovative protective equipment and services that enhance the performance and enjoyment of team sports. Schutt Sports is the largest supplier of football helmets and faceguards in the world, Schutt Sports is truly the gear that makes the game.™

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