WACO, TEX.  – Bowie State's head football coach Damon Wilson has been named the American Football Coaches (AFCA) NCAA Division II Region 2 Coach of the Year announced Monday. The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association's five divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision, FCS, 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.

Under the 12^th year head coach and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Coach of the Year, the Bulldogs won 12 games (third-consecutive season BSU has won 10 games or more), including a 12-game win-streak dating back to Sept. 11 to Dec. 4. While going undefeated for the second-straight season against conference opponents (7-0), not only did the nationally-ranked Bulldogs capture its third Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championship and Northern Division title, Bowie State made school history by reaching the Super Region Two Finals (NCAA DII Quarterfinals) after defeating Lenoir-Rhyne (31-10) and Newberry (13-10) in the first and second round of the NCAA playoffs under the leadership of Wilson. The last time a CIAA school reached the region finals was in 2011.

In addition to the playoff appearances, the two games also marked the first time Bowie State hosted two back-to-back playoff contests at Bulldogs Stadium. Bowie State concluded the 2021 season 6-0 record at home while registering 10 players to the All-CIAA ballets, including three first team recipients and six second team All-CIAA honorees, along with one All-CIAA Rookie Team nod.
Amongst the Super Region Two accolades, Wilson had five players named to the All-Region Team highlighted by sophomore Jonathan Ross (Waldorf, MD) whom was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Of those five All-Region selections, Bowie State had three players tab first team and three second team.

The award is Wilson's first AFCA Regional Coach of the Year recognition.

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.
 
2021 AFCA FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA Regional Coach of the Year Winners
Football Championship Subdivision
Region 1: Mark Ferrante, Villanova University
Region 2: Kevin Callahan, Monmouth University (N.J.)
Region 3: Walt Wells, Eastern Kentucky University and Eric Dooley, Prairie View A&M University (tie)
Region 4: *Matt Entz, North Dakota State University
Region 5: K.C. Keeler, Sam Houston State University
 
Division II
Region 1: Jim Clements, Kutztown University
Region 2: Damon Wilson, Bowie State University
Region 3: Rob Keys, University of Findlay
Region 4: Jeff Girsch, Angelo State University
Region 5: Jas Bains, Western Colorado University
 
Division III
Region 1: Mike Toop, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Region 2: Rich Lackner, Carnegie Mellon University
Region 3: Jerheme Urban, Trinity University (Tex.)
Region 4: Dustin Beurer, Albion College
Region 5: Jeff McMartin, Central College
 
NAIA
Region 1: *Chris Oliver, Lindsey Wilson College
Region 2: *Joshua Schumacher, Concordia University (Mich.)
Region 3: Brad Griffin, Southwestern College (Kan.)
Region 4: *Steve Ryan, Morningside University
Region 5: Joe Prud'homme, Texas Wesleyan University
*-2021 Spring winner

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