The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Brown named AFCA Regional Coach of the Year
12.07.2005 | Football
AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas head coach Mack Brown has been named one of five American Football Coaches Association Regional Coaches of the Year, the association has announced.
This is the second time Brown has earned the award, but the first at Texas. He previously was honored in 1997 while head coach at North Carolina. This season, Brown led the Longhorns to the first 12-win season in school history, its second Big 12 Championship, a No. 2 national ranking and a berth in the Rose Bowl to play USC for the National Championship. He has an eight-year record of 82-19 (.812) at Texas and is the only active Division I-A coach to record at least 10 wins in each of the last five seasons.
The AFCA recognizes five regional coach of the year winners in each of the Association's four divisions: I-A, I-AA, Division II (NCAA Division II and NAIA schools) and Division III. The winners are selected by Active members of the association who vote for coaches in their respective regions and divisions.
"What makes this award so special is that this is the only coach of the year award voted on exclusively by the coaches themselves," AFCA Executive Director Grant Teaff said. "The winners are selected by the coaches they compete with and against on a daily basis."
Joining Brown as winners in Division I-A are Miami's (Fla.) Larry Coker (Region 1), Alabama's Mike Shula (Region 2), Penn State's Joe Paterno (Region 3) and USC's Pete Carroll (Region 5).
The AFCA began recognizing district coaches of the year following the 1960 season. The awards were established the same year Eastman Kodak agreed to sponsor the AFCA Coach of the Year award. Prior to 1960, the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain had sponsored the program, which recognized one national Coach of the Year.
The AFCA first recognized eight district winners in each of two divisions: university and college. In 1972, a ninth district was added in each division. In 1983, the award was changed to recognize regional winners instead of district winners. The number of divisions was increased from two to the four we now have, and five regional winners were selected in each division. This resulted in a more equitable selection process and better represented the make-up of the membership. At the same time, the new system increased the number of honorees from 18 to 20.
The 2005 Regional Coach of the Year winners will be recognized at the AFCA Coach of the Year Dinner at the 2006 AFCA Convention in Dallas. The dinner is scheduled for January 10.
