FootballScoop is proud to announce that Brandon Staley is the 2016 FootballScoop Division III Coordinator of the Year presented by ProGrass as selected by prior winners.
Even the most casual of Division III football observers can come to an instant appreciation of the season Staley and his John Carroll defense put together with just one sentence. That sentence? "They beat Mount Union and Wisconsin-Whitewater in the span of one month."
In putting together a 12-2 season, including an unblemished run to the Ohio Athletic Conference championship, John Carroll ranked third in Division III in total defense, fourth in scoring defense, sixth in pass efficiency defense and 13th in rushing defense. John Carroll tied the program record with 12 wins and reached the Division III semifinals, falling to Wisconsin-Oshkosh by a final score of 10-3.
The Blue Streaks limited 12 of their 14 opponents to 17 points or fewer (and that 17-point performance, against Wesley College in the second round of the Division III playoffs, came in double overtime. Five of John Carroll's opponents failed to reach 10 points.
John Carroll held Mount Union -- an offense that ranked sixth in Division III at 45.3 points per game -- to 28 points, and limited Wisconsin-Whitewater to 14 points after Whitewater averaged nearly 35 points per game. The 14 points was the lowest Whitewater scored in their 12-1 season, a season that ended at John Carroll's hand in the Division III quarterfinals.
Opposing passers hit only 50 percent of their passes for 1,956 yards (4.85 yards per attempt) with 10 touchdowns against 15 interceptions. Opposing rushers managed only 1,096 yards and 10 touchdowns over 14 games with a 2.38 yards per carry average.
Additionally, Blue Streaks opponents converted only 25.1 percent of their third downs, the seventh-worst rate in Division III.
Linebacker Mason McKendrick was named D3football.com's North Region Defensive Player of the Year, won the Gene Slaughter Award as the OAC's best linebacker, and earned a spot on the D3football.com All-America team. Cornerback Michael Hollins joined McKendrick on the D3football.com First Team, while fellow defensive backfield mate Jovon Dawson garnered a spot on the Second Team. Dawson was also rated a First Team All-American by the AFCA, a Third Team member of the AP Little All-American team, and the Lee J. Tressel Award winner as the OAC's best defensive back.
A former player at Dayton and Mercyhurst, Staley's career began as a graduate assistant at Northern Illinois in 2006. He moved on to an assistant role at St. Thomas (Minn.), a defensive coordinator job at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, returned to the GA ranks at Tennessee in 2014, and spent a season as the defensive coordinator at James Madison before joining John Carroll's staff in 2015. He has since joined Tom Arth's staff as defensive coordinator at Chattanooga.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by ProGrass are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Grant Caserta [Husson], Wallie Kuchinski [St. Thomas], Stephen Lee [Mary Hardin-Baylor], Jordan Neal [Hendrix College] and Staley) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
Staley will receive his award and be recognized at an event at the AFCA Convention in January.
Previous winners of the Division III Coordinator of the Year award are Glen Fowles (Williamette [Ore.], 2008), Jim Zebrowski (Wisconsin-Whitewater, 2009), Vince Kehres (Mount Union [Ohio], 2010), Wallie Kuchinski (Saint Thomas [Minn.], 2011), John O’Grady (Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 2012), Brian Borland (Wisconsin-Whitewater, 2013), Jackson Vaughan (Linfield, 2014) and Chris Kappas (Mount Union [Ohio], 2015).
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