American Football Coaches Association
The American Football Coaches Association is an association of football coaches on all levels and is responsible for the Coaches Poll that determines the national champion each year. The American Football Coaches Association is also responsible for the Top 25 poll for Division II and Division III.
The AFCA was founded in a meeting for 43 coaches at the Hotel Astor in New York City on Dec. 27, 1921. It is headquartered in Waco, Texas (the headquarters building is located across from Baylor University).
Maj. Charles Daly of the U.S. Military Academy was the first president. He was followed by John Heisman. Other presidents have included Bear Bryant, Darrell Royal, Eddie Robinson, Bo Schembechler and Vince Dooley. The 2006 president is Mel Tjeerdsma.
In 2006 the Association has 10,000 members and represents coaches at all levels including the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the National Junior College Athletic Association, the National Federation of State High School Associations, the National Football League, the Canadian Football League, USA Football, the National Football Foundation, College Football Hall of Fame, and Pop Warner Football.
Since 1940 it has awarded the annual Amos Alonzo Stagg Award to the "individual, group or institution whose services have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests of football."
The Association has established a code of ethics and has made safety recommendations. It teams with USA Today and ESPN for the Division I-A Coaches Poll.
All-American Teams
Since 1945, the American Football Coaches Association has selected an All-American team. It is the only one selected exclusively NCAA the coaches themselves.
The AFCA currently selects an All-American team in four divisions: Division I-A, Division I-AA, Division II (NCAA Division II and all NAIA teams) and Division III (NCAA Division III teams). From 1945 until 1967, only one team was chosen. From 1967 through 1971, two teams, University Division and College Division, were selected. In 1972, the College Division was split into College I and College II. In 1979, the University Division was split into two teams — NCAA Division I-A and NCAA Division I-AA, yielding the four teams the Association names every November. In 1996, the College I and College II divisions were renamed AFCA Division II and AFCA Division III respectively.
The Coaches’ All-America Team has been sponsored by various entities throughout the years but it is now under its own banner,
the AFCA. These are the sponsors/publishers of the team throughout the years.
1945-47: Published in Saturday Evening Post
1948-56: Published in Collier’s
1957-59: General Mills
1960-93: Eastman Kodak
1994: Schooner’s International
1995-96: AFCA
1997-1999: Burger King
2000-present: AFCA
AFCA National Championship Trophy
The AFCA National Championship Trophy is the trophy awarded by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) to the winner of college football's BCS National Championship Game, which determines the national champion for purposes of the Coaches Poll. The trophy has been awarded since 1986.
The trophy consists of a Waterford Crystal football affixed to an ebony base, and carries a value of over $30,000. The winning school retains permanent possession of the trophy, as a new one is awarded every year.
The trophy has undergone several sponsorship changes over the years. It was sponsored by the Gerrits Foundation during the initial 1986 and 1987 seasons. Pepsi came aboard as a co-sponsor in 1988 and 1989. McDonald's was the sole sponsor from 1990 until 1992. Sears became the trophy's sponsor in 1993 and remained so until 2001. Circuit City assumed sponsorship duties for the 2002 season. ADT Security Services, the current sponsor, took over in 2003.
As the sponsor obtains naming rights to the trophy, its current name is actually the "ADT National Championship Trophy."
See also
External links
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