Curt Cignetti and Jim Clements headline the 2025 AFCA Regional Coach of the Year Winners

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti and Kutztown’s Jim Clements highlight today’s announcement of the American Football Coaches Association’s 2025 Regional Coach of the Year winners for FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III, and NAIA. These winners will be honored on Monday, January 12, during the 2026 AFCA Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association’s five divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, 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.  

Curt Cignetti earned his second straight AFCA Regional honor by guiding Indiana to its best season start in program history, 11-0. The Hoosiers have one game left against Purdue for the 2025 season and are ranked No. 2 in the US LBM Coaches Poll in Cignetti’s second year. He is 22-2 at Indiana and has an overall record of 141-37 in his 15 years as a head coach at Indiana, James Madison, Elon and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  

Jim Clements earned his sixth AFCA Regional honor, and third in a row, after leading Kutztown to their second consecutive undefeated regular season and third straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title. The Golden Bears are making their eighth NCAA Division II playoff appearance and are seeded No. 1 in Super Region One. Clements is the winningest head coach in Kutztown history with a record of 101-29, and he has an overall record of 167-53 in his 19 seasons as a head coach at Kutztown and Delaware Valley.  

AFCA National Coach of the Year: The AFCA will announce the 2025 National Coaches of the Year winners in FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA on Monday, December 15. The Regional winners in each division are finalists for National Coach of the Year. 

Award History: 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 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. 

Multiple Winners: Multiple winners of AFCA Regional honors in the 2025 class are Clark Lea (second: FBS 2024), Curt Cignetti (second: FBS 2024), Bobby Hauck (fourth: FCS, 2006, 2009, 2023), Jim Clements (sixth: D3 2010, D2 2019, 2021, 2023-24), Tony Kunczewski (second: D3 2017), Myles Russ (second: NAIA 2024) and Ted Karras (third: NAIA 2011-12).  

First Time Winners: Eighteen coaches earned their first AFCA Regional Coach of the Year Award in 2025: Georgia Tech’s Brent Key, Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire, Hawaii’s Timmy Chang, Lehigh’s Kevin Cahill, Tennessee Tech’s Bobby Wilder, West Georgia’s Joel Taylor, Presbyterian’s Steve Englehart, West Florida’s Kaleb Nobles, Northwest Missouri State’s John McMenamin, Central Washington’s Chris Fisk, Chadron State’s Jay Long, Coast Guard’s C.C. Grant, Johns Hopkins Dan Wodicka, North Central’s Brad Spencer, Bethel’s (Minn.) Mike McElroy, Benedictine’s (Kan.) Joel Osborn, Dordt’s Joel Penner and Montana Tech’s Kyle Samson.   

Most Awards: Mount Union’s Larry Kehres (1986, 1990, 1992-93, 1996-97, 1999-02, 2006-12) has the most district/regional honors in AFCA history, with 17. Morningside’s Steve Ryan (2005, 2011-12, 2014-21, 2024) moves into second place with 12, followed by Penn State’s Joe Paterno (District 2: 1967-68, 1971-73, 1977-78, 1982; Region 1: 1985; Region 3: 1994, 2005) in third with 11 District/Regional Coach of the Year honors. Tied for fourth is Bloomsburg’s Danny Hale and Mary Hardin-Baylor’s Pete Fredenburg, each with 10 awards. Hale won his first three honors at West Chester and the rest at Bloomsburg (College Division I, Region 1 1986-88, 1994-95; Division II, Region 1, 2000-01, 2005-06, 2008). Fredenburg won his 10 in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012-14, 2016 and 2018. Eight coaches have won the award seven times: Tubby Raymond, Delaware; Jim Butterfield, Ithaca; Chris Oliver, Lindsey Wilson; Bo Schembechler, Miami (Ohio), Michigan; Bob Devaney, Nebraska; Tom Osborne, Nebraska; Mel Tjeerdsma, Northwest Missouri State; and Carmen Cozza, Yale. Eight coaches have won regional honors six times: Jim Clements, Delaware Valley, Kutztown; Vince Dooley, Georgia; Brian Kelly, Grand Valley State, Cincinnati, Notre Dame; Roy Kidd, Eastern Kentucky; John McKay, USC; Jerry Moore, Appalachian State; Darrell Royal, Texas; and Mike Van Diest, Carroll (Mont.). 

Most Winners by School: Mount Union-18 (Ken Wable-1, Larry Kehres-17); North Dakota State-17 (Darrell Mudra-1, Ron Erhardt-4, Jim Wacker-1, Don Morton-3, Earle Solomonson-1, Craig Bohl-2, Klieman-1, Entz-3, Polasek-1); Nebraska-15 (Bob Devaney-7, Tom Osborne-7, Frank Solich-1); Morningside-12 (Steve Ryan-12); Penn State-12 (Rip Engle-1, Joe Paterno-11); Alabama-11 (Bear Bryant-4, Bill Curry-1, Gene Stallings-2, Mike Shula-1, Nick Saban-3); Mary Hardin-Baylor-11 (Pete Fredenburg-10, Larry Harmon-1); Texas-11 (Darrell Royal-6, Fred Akers-2, David McWilliams-1, Mack Brown-2); Ithaca-10 (Jim Butterfield-7, Mike Welch-2, Mike Toerper-1); Michigan-10 (Bump Elliott-2, Bo Schembechler-6, Lloyd Carr-1, Jim Harbaugh-1); USC-10 (John McKay-6, John Robinson-2, Pete Carroll-2); Wittenberg-10 (Bill Edwards-3, Dave Maurer-4, Ron Murphy-1, Joe Fincham-2); Arkansas-9 (Frank Broyles-4, Lou Holtz-1, Ken Hatfield-1, Houston Nutt-2, Sam Pittman-1); Bloomsburg-9 (George Landis-1, Danny Hale-7, Paul Darragh-1); Eastern Kentucky-9 (Roy Kidd-6, Danny Hope-1, Dean Hood-1, Walt Wells-1); New Hampshire-9 (Clarence Boston-1, Jim Root-1, Bill Bowes-3, Sean McDonnell-4); Northwest Missouri State-9 (Mel Tjeerdsma-7, Adam Dorrel-1, John McMenamin-1). 

Two Consecutive Years, Two Schools: Chennis Berry (Benedict, 2022-23 & South Carolina State, 2024) joined eight other coaches who have earned AFCA Regional Coach of the Year honors at two schools in consecutive years: Fred Akers (Wyoming, 1976 & Texas 1977), Dennis Franchione (Pittsburg State, 1989 & Texas State, 1990), Mike Houston (The Citadel, 2015 & James Madison, 2016), Jim McElwain (Colorado State, 2014 & Florida, 2015), Hal Mumme (Valdosta State, 1996 & Kentucky, 1997), Dick Sheridan (Furman, 1985 & NC State, 1986), Kevin Sumlin (Houston, 2011 & Texas A&M, 2012) and Joe Tiller (Wyoming, 1996 & Purdue, 1997). 

Most Schools: South Carolina’s Lou Holtz is the only coach to earn AFCA Regional Coach of the Year honors at four different schools. Holtz earned the honor at North Carolina State (1972), Arkansas (1979), Notre Dame (1988) and South Carolina (2000). Jerry Kill (Southern Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico State) became the eighth coach to win district or regional honors at three different schools in 2023. He joins Brian Kelly (Grand Valley State, Cincinnati, Notre Dame), Jerry Claiborne (Virginia Tech, Maryland, Kentucky), Darrell Mudra (North Dakota State, Western Illinois, Northern Iowa), Houston Nutt (Mississippi, Arkansas, Murray State), Mike Price (UTEP, Washington State, Weber State), Jim Sweeney (Montana State, Washington State, Fresno State) and Jim Wacker (North Dakota State, Texas State, TCU) on that list. 

Consecutive Years: Morningside’s Steve Ryan is in first place with his eight straight NAIA Regional honors from 2014-21. Mount Union’s Larry Kehres is in second with seven consecutive years, winning in Division III from 2006-12. Jacksonville State’s John Grass, Northwest Missouri State’s Mel Tjeerdsma and Nebraska’s Bob Devaney have won district/regional honors in five consecutive years. Tjeerdsma earned the honor in Division II from 1996-2000. Devaney recorded his in the AFCA’s old University Division (1962-66). Grass earned his five straight in FCS from 2014-18. Carroll’s (Mont.) Mike Van Diest, Trinity’s (Tex.) Steve Mohr, North Dakota State’s Ron Erhardt and Kehres are the only men to win the award four years in a row. Van Diest earned the honor in NAIA from 2007-10, while Kehres won his four in a row from 1999-2002 in Division III. Erhardt earned district honors in the AFCA’s old College Division (1967-70) while Mohr earned the honor in Division III (1996-99). Kutztown’s Jim Clements (2023-25) makes it 19 coaches who have earned district or regional honors three years in a row. Ithaca’s Jim Butterfield (1978-79-80 and 1984-85-86) earned the award in three consecutive years on two different occasions.