WACO, Texas - Benedictine (Kan.) head football coach Joel Osborn is the AFCA's NAIA Coach of the Year, announced Dec. 15 by the American Football Coaches Association. 

Winners are selected by a vote of active AFCA members at four-year schools, and the AFCA has named a Coach of the Year since 1935. The AFCA Coach of the Year award is the oldest coach of the year honor awarded, and is the only one chosen exclusively by coaches.

Osborn earned his first AFCA National honor by guiding Benedictine to its fourth-straight Heart of America Athletic Conference South Division title and the program’s second straight trip to the NAIA Football Championship Series semifinals. He has an overall record of 50-14 in his five seasons as the Ravens' head coach.  

Award History

Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf, then of Northwestern, was named as the first AFCA Coach of the Year in 1935. One national winner was selected from 1935 through 1959. From 1960 through 1982, two national winners were selected — one representing the University Division and one from the College Division. Between 1983 and 2005, four national winners were selected.

In 2006, the AFCA began honoring an NAIA Coach of the Year, bringing the total to the five honorees we have today. Prior to 2006, the NAIA was a part of the AFCA’s Division II membership category.

Voting Process

The current balloting procedure involves the selection of 25 regional winners: five regional winners in each of the five divisions – FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III, and NAIA- who become finalists for National Coach of the Year. Following regional voting, five national winners – one from each division – are chosen.

NAIA-AFCA Coach of the Year History