EMCC's Buddy Stephens presented ACCFCA Coach of the Year award at AFCA Convention

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Head coach Buddy Stephens of the NJCAA National Champion Lions of East Mississippi Community College was one of six coaches recognized at this week's American Football Coaches Association Convention held in San Antonio, Texas.  National Coach of the Year honors were given in all five four-year college divisions plus the junior college level during the AFCA's Coach of the Year Dinner held this past Tuesday.

In guiding the undefeated EMCC Lions to a school-first National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Football Championship this past season, Stephens was the recipient of the 2011 American Community College Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year award, as voted on by members of the ACCFCA.  Stephens, a native of Huntsville, Ala., also earned NJCAA Region 23 and Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) North Division Coach of the Year honors after directing the 2011 Lions to their second MACJC State/NJCAA Region 23 Championship in three years and a third division crown within a four-year span.

As selected by a vote of the active members within the American Football Coaches Association's five divisions, the AFCA National Coach of the Year winners among four-year schools were LSU's Les Miles (Football Bowl Subdivision), Willie Fritz of Sam Houston State University (Football Championship Subdivision), Wayne State (Mich.) University's Paul Winters (Division II), Lance Leipold of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (Division III), and Saint Xavier University's Mike Feminis (NAIA).

The AFCA Coach of the Year award is the oldest and most prestigious of all the Coach of the Year awards and is the only one chosen exclusively by the coaches themselves.

The AFCA Convention annually attracts coaches from all levels of the football coaching profession.  With approximately 6,000 coaches in attendance at this week's four-day convention held in San Antonio, the yearly meetings and coaching clinics served as the culmination of the 2011 college football season.