2011 AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America Team Announced

Eastern Washington quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and Stony Brook runningback Brock Jackolski headline the 2011 AFCA Football Championship Subdivision Coaches’ All-America Team announced today by the American Football Coaches Association.

The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions. What makes these teams so special is that they are the only ones chosen exclusively by the men who know the players the best — the coaches themselves.

Mitchell led the nation in total offense, at 364 yards per game, and points responsible for, with 220 total points. He is a finalist for the Payton Award. Jackolski finished third in the nation in all-purpose running, averaging 187.77 yards per game. He rushed for 1,418 yards, had 114 yards receiving, 55 punt return yards, 854 kickoff return yards and scored 20 touchdowns.

2011 AFCA Football Championship Subdivision Coaches’ All-America Team
Offense

Defense

Specialists

*-2010 All-American

Team Background: The AFCA has selected an All-America team every year since 1945. What makes these teams so special is that they are the only ones chosen exclusively by the men who know the players the best — the coaches themselves.
The five teams now chosen for each AFCA division evolved from a single 11-player squad in 1945. From 1945 until 1967, only one team was chosen. From 1967 through 1971, two teams, University Division and College Division, were selected. In 1972, the College Division was split into College I and College II. In 1979, the University Division was split into two teams — Division I-A and Division I-AA. In 1996, the College I and College II teams were renamed Division II and Division III, respectively. In 2006, the Division I-A and Division I-AA teams were renamed Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), respectively. In 2006, the AFCA started selecting an NAIA-only team.

From 1965-81, a 22-player (11 offensive, 11 defensive) team was chosen. In 1982, a punter and placekicker were added to the team. In 1997, a return specialist was added, giving us the current 25-player team. The return specialist position was replaced by an all-purpose player in 2006.

Top Teams: Eastern Kentucky has been represented a total of 23 times by 21 players on the AFCA FCS Coaches’ All-America Team since 1979. The Colonels are followed by Appalachian State (23/17), Montana (21/20), Delaware (20/17), Furman (18/17), Northern Iowa (17/14), Georgia Southern (17/13), Eastern Washington (16/15), Lehigh (15/15), Grambling State (14/13), Stephen F. Austin (14/13), Portland State (13/13), Jackson State (13/12), Massachusetts (13/12), Weber State (13/12), Youngstown State (13/12), New Hampshire (13/11), Holy Cross (12/11), Western Illinois (12/11) and McNeese State (12/10) among current FCS schools.

Top Conference: The Colonial Athletic Association (formerly Atlantic 10) (117 appearances/107 players) is tops among all FCS conferences on the AFCA FCS Coaches All-America Team since 1979. Following the CAA is the Southern (104 appearances/91 players), Missouri Valley Football (formerly Gateway) (79/73), Big Sky (78/76), Ohio Valley (61/57), Southland (60/56), Southwestern Athletic (50/48), Patriot (46/45), Mid-Eastern Athletic (30/28), Ivy League (28/28), Northeast (15/13), Pioneer (13/13), Great West (10/9), Big South (8/8) and Metro Atlantic Athletic (5/4). These totals reflect FCS selections only from current conference members. Several schools had additional players chosen when they played in divisions other than FCS.

2011 Conference-by-Conference Breakdown: Big Sky – 8; Missouri Valley Football – 4; Southern – 4; Colonial Athletic – 3; Big South – 2; Patriot – 2; Southland – 2.

Consecutive Years: Eastern Kentucky leads all schools, having had at least one player named to the AFCA FCS Coaches’ All-America Team in each of the first 15 years a FCS team was chosen (1979-93).

Double-Five: In 2010, five schools had two representatives each on the FCS Coaches’ All-America team, which was a first since the AFCA began selecting an FCS Coaches’ All-Ameirca Team in 1979. Those All-American’s where Appalachian State’s Jabari Fletcher (DL) and Mark LeGree (DB), Eastern Washington’s J.C. Sherritt (LB) and Taiwan Jones (RB), Montana State’s Mike Person (OL) and Jason Cunningham (PK), Richmond’s Martin Parker (DL) and Eric McBride (LB) and Stephen F Austin’s Jeremy Moses (QB) and Kenneth Charles (DL).

This year, four schools had two representatives each on the squad. Eastern Washington’s Nicholas Edwards (WR) and Bo Levi Mitchell (QB), Sam Houston State’s Tim Flanders (RB) and Darnell Taylor (DB), Furman’s Kadarron Anderson (LB) and Ryan Steed (DB) and Montana’s Caleb McSurdy (LB) and Trumaine Johnson (DB) were all named to the 2011 FCS All-America Team.

Repeat After Me: Massachusetts’ Tyler Holmes and Montana’s Trumaine Johnson have been elected to the AFCA All-American team for the second consecutive year.
Linebackers Gary Reasons of Northwestern State (La.) (1981-83) and Dexter Coakley of Appalachian State (1994-96) are the only three-time AFCA All-Americans in the FCS.

Yearly Leaders: Grambling (1979-DL Joe Gordon, LB Aldrich Allen and DB Robert Salters) and Jackson State (1996-QB Grailyn Pratt, LB Otha Evans and DB Sean Woodson) are the only schools to have more than two players named to the AFCA FCS Coaches’ All-America Team in one year.

One Player, Two Schools: Punter Mark Bounds is the only player to earn Coaches’ All-America honors at two different schools. He was named to the AFCA College Division I team in 1990 while playing for West Texas A&M. He transferred to Texas Tech after West Texas dropped football and earned FBS All-America honors as a Red Raider in 1991.

Class Distinction: This year’s AFCA FCS Coaches’ All-America Team is made up of 19 seniors, four juniors and two sophomores.