Joe Moglia Named AFCA Region FCS Coach of the Year
12/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
AFCA Region Coaches of the Year
Coastal Carolina head football coach Joe Moglia was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS Region 2 Coach of the Year, the organization announced today.
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.
The 2014 Regional Coach of the Year winners will be recognized at the AFCA Coach of the Year Dinner at the 2015 AFCA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. The dinner is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13.
Moglia, in his third-year as the Chanticleer coach, led Coastal Carolina to its third straight Big South Championship, a No. 1 national ranking and the program's first national seed to the NCAA Division I Football Championship. He was additionally voted the league's co-Coach of the Year and is a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, awarded to the nation's FCS Coach of the Year, for the third consecutive season.
Coastal started the season 11-0, both a program and Big South record, and was ranked among the nation's top five the entire regular season, reaching the nation's top spot for the final two weeks of the regular season. The Chants dropped a 15-14 heart-breaker in the season finale to drop to sixth in the polls and are seeded seventh in the NCAA postseason, beating 10th-seed Richmond in the Round of 16 to advance to the NCAA quarterfinal for the second consecutive season.
The Chants set a Big South record by scoring at least 30 points in each of its first 11 games and, with a 36-15 win in the playoffs, broke their own league record by scoring 30-plus points 12 times in a season. Also with the victory over Richmond, Coastal tied its own league record by posting 12 wins in a season.
While Coastal's offense ranked among the FCS top 30 in six categories, the CCU defense ranked 10th in the FCS in scoring defense (18.1 ppg), setting a Big South record by holding three consecutive opponents to just three points, and ranked 28th in the FCS in red zone defense.
While the offensive and defensive numbers are impressive, the numbers inside the numbers are critical to the Chanticleers' success as they ranked first in the FCS in fourth-down conversions, fifth in third-down conversions, sixth in first downs, ninth in fewest penalty yards per game, 11th in fewest tackles for loss allowed, 13th in fewest sacks allowed and 19th in kickoff return defense.
2014 AFCA Regional Coach of the Year Winners
AFCA NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision
Region 1: Sean McDonnell, University of New Hampshire
Region 2: Joe Moglia, Coastal Carolina University
Region 3: John Grass, Jacksonville State University
Region 4: Mike Sanford, Indiana State University
Region 5: Beau Baldwin, Eastern Washington University
