WACO, Texas (December 5, 2017) – The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) announced its 2017 Regional Coach of the Year winners and Howard University’s Football Head Coach Mike London was among the recipients. The announcement came Tuesday morning.
“It is an honor and privilege to be recognized for this prestigious award,” London stated. “Words cannot express my gratitude to the coaches, players, athletic director [Kery Davis] and Howard President Wayne [A.I.] Frederick for the opportunity to be the head football coach at Howard. The award reflects a team effort in turning around this program. All of us are a team.”
These winners will be honored at the American Football Coaches Awards, presented by Amway, broadcast live on the USA TODAY Sports Facebook page on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018, at 8 p.m. ET. The awards show will air from the Crown Ballroom at the Charlotte Convention Center during the 2018 AFCA Convention.
London’s first season at HU began with the program’s first FBS win as the Bison beat UNLV, which according to ESPN, deemed the biggest upset in college football history. Furthermore, Howard finished second in the conference with a 6-2 mark while posting its first winning season since 2012.
On Nov. 20, Coach London was named a finalist for the 31st STATS FCS Eddie Robinson Award.
The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association’s five divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, Division III and NAIA. The winners are selected by Active members of the Association who vote for coaches in their respective regions and divisions.
The AFCA will announce the 2017 National Coaches of the Year winners in FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA at the American Football Coaches Awards, presented by Amway, broadcast live on the USA TODAY Sports Facebook page on Tuesday, Jan. 9, at 8 p.m. EST. The Regional winners in each division are finalists for the National Coach of the Year.
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. Before 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 also increased from two to four 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. In 2006, the AFCA?Division II Award was split into separate Division II and NAIA divisions, giving us the 25 winners we now recognize.
To view the entire 2017 AFCA Regional Coach of the Year winners, please Click Here.
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.
