FootballScoop is proud to announce that Ryan Carty is the 2020 FootballScoop FCS Coordinator of the Year presented by AstroTurf as selected by prior winners.
They say football is a game of inches. It's also a game of plays. A game, a season, an entire career can often be defined by the result of a single snap. Such was the case for Sam Houston in 2020-21.
Facing a 3rd-and-goal from the 10-yard line with 16 seconds to play, Sam Houston needed a play and it got one -- a strike from Eric Schmid to Ife Adeyi gave the Bearkats the touchdown, the game, and their first FCS national championship.
That 23-21 win over No. 1 South Dakota State put an exclamation point on a seat-of-your pants playoff run by the No. 2 overall seed. The Bearkats opened with a 21-15 win over No. 10 Monmouth, rallied past No. 6 North Dakota State 24-20, then stunned No. 3 James Madison by turning a 24-3 deficit into a 38-35 semifinal win.
As a harbinger to their 16-play, 65-yard touchdown drive to win the FCS title, Sam Houston beat North Dakota State by moving 72 yards in nine plays -- keyed by a 47-yard, 3rd-and-10 completion from Schmid to Adeyi -- to move ahead of the three-time defending champion Bison with 3:39 to play in the game. After trailing James Madison by 21 in the semifinals, Carty's offense ripped off four consecutive touchdown drives to win back control of the game -- and their season.
For the year, Sam Houston ranked ninth nationally in scoring offense (37.5 points per game), 13th in total offense (440.3 yards per game), 13th in passing offense, 23rd in passing efficiency, and among the top 35 in rushing, third down and red zone offense.
Schmid was named a Second Team All-American by STATS and the AFCA, while wide receiver/punt returner Jequez Ezzard earned various All-America honors as a receiver and all-purpose player, in addition to Most Outstanding Player honors of the FCS title game by catching 10 passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Offensive linemen Colby Thomas and Prince Pines also earned All-America selections by the Associated Press, STATS and HERO Sports. Schmid was named the Southland Conference's Player of the Year, Ezzard won the SLC's Newcomer of the Year, and Thomas joined the pair on the All-Southland team.
Also Sam Houston's quarterbacks coach, Carty has been on KC Keeler's staff since 2018. He spent the previous 11 seasons at New Hampshire, six of them as offensive coordinator. A 2003 Delaware graduate, Carty played on Keeler's 2003 national championship team and captained the 2006 outfit.
The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by AstroTurf are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Rob Cristophel [Nicholls], Cody Crill [Incarnate Word], Tom Clark [VMI], Corey Heatherman [James Madison], Jimmy Rogers and Brian Bergstrom [South Dakota State], and Manny Rojas [Delaware]) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.
Previous winners of the FCS Coordinator of the Year award are Heishman Northern (Prairie View A&M, 2008), Bob Shoop (William & Mary, 2009), Nick Rapone (Delaware, 2010), Scott Stoker (Sam Houston State, 2011), Chris Klieman (North Dakota State, 2012), Sterlin Gilbert (Eastern Illinois, 2013), Don Bailey (Idaho State, 2014), Lyle Hemphill (Stony Brook, 2015), Phil Longo (Sam Houston State, 2016), Bob Trott (James Madison, 2017), Matt Entz (North Dakota State, 2018), and Shane Montgomery (James Madison, 2019).
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