新澳门六合彩内幕信息

Dan Hawkins Named U.S. Coach of the Year

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Dan Hawkins portrait
Dan Hawkins: Recipient of the Eddie Robinson Award as coach of the year in the Football Championship Subdivision.

新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis鈥 Dan Hawkins today (Dec. 12) was named the nation鈥檚 coach of the year among Football Championship Subdivision schools.

PLAYER HONORS

The honor follows his being named co-coach of the year of the Big Sky Conference, after he and his team earned 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis鈥 first championship in the Big Sky and a berth in the FCS national playoffs for the first time since moving up to Division I in 2007.

Hawkins, in his second season as head coach at his alma mater (he graduated in 1984), led the Aggies to a 7-1 record in the conference and a 10-3 overall record after going 3-5 and 5-6 the year before. Along the way in 2018, the Aggies made it into the top-25 FCS rankings for the first time 鈥 rising as high as No. 4.

A national panel of 153 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries voted for coach of the year 鈥 officially the STATS FCS Eddie Robinson Award, named for the man who coached at Grambling State University for 56 years.

Hawkins is 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis鈥 first recipient of the Eddie Robinson Award in its 32-year history and the Big Sky鈥檚 fourth national coach of the year in the conference鈥檚 56-year history.

鈥淲e are all very proud of Coach Hawkins for this well-deserved recognition,鈥 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Athletics Director Kevin Blue said in an Aggie Athletics news release. 鈥淗e embraces the traditions and history of our program while also leading our team in a modern, innovative and inspiring way that is a perfect fit for 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis.

He embraces the traditions and history of our program while also leading our team in a modern, innovative and inspiring way that is a perfect fit for 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis. 鈥 Athletics Director Kevin Blue

鈥淗e鈥檚 a great representative of our athletics program and university, and we're very happy for him,鈥 Blue said.

The unassuming Hawkins was quick to spread the praise: 鈥淲e have really talented players 鈥 it all starts there 鈥 a talented staff, but none of that happens, or comes together, unless you have leadership that says, 鈥榃e can work together to create one of the best academic schools in the country, and we can succeed in sports.鈥 They are not mutually exclusive from one another.鈥

STATS FCS stated in an that 鈥渉is intellectual approach is ideally suited at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, whose football program has led the Big Sky in its NCAA academic standing for five straight years鈥 鈥 from 2012 (when 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis joined the conference) to 2016 (the last season for which Academic Progress Rate data are available).

鈥淏ut he鈥檚 also reinvigorated the former Division II power,鈥 STATS FCS declared. 鈥淔or two seasons, his Aggies have featured a high-powered offense, led by the last two Big Sky offensive players of the year, wide receiver Keelan Doss (2017) and quarterback Jake Maier (2018).鈥

Very special centennial year

The 2018 campaign was a special one from the start, since it marked the Aggies鈥 100th season of football, but Hawkins made this a year one that no football fan will ever forget. He labeled 鈥渢hese players and this team鈥 as 鈥渢he new gold standard for 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis football.鈥

FCS PLAYOFFS COVERAGE

Hawkins will be honored at the STATS FCS Awards Banquet and Presentation Jan. 4 in Frisco, Texas 鈥 on the eve of the national championship game to be played in that city's Toyota Stadium.

The playoffs to decide which teams will compete in the championship game are still underway. Twenty-four teams made it into the tournament, with eight of them seeded. With the No. 6 seed, 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis had a first-round bye, then hosted Northern Iowa in the next round 鈥 another first: our first time hosting a game in the first season we made the playoffs.

The Aggies defeated the Panthers, 23-16, in a packed Aggie Stadium Dec. 1, to advance to the quarterfinals against Eastern Washington, the only team to defeat the Aggies in the regular season. The Eagles emerged victorious with a last-minute touchdown, 34-29.

Aggie Athletics contributed to this report.

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Dateline Staff, 530-752-6556, dateline@ucdavis.edu

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