One HBCU coach led his team to the FCS playoffs for the first time in more than a decade.
Another went undefeated in the MEAC in his first season after taking over for a legend, while a third won 10 games and clinched a SWAC East division championship in only the second full of his season on the job.
Jackson State head coach T.C. Taylor, South Carolina State coach Chennis Berry, and Tennessee State coach Eddie George were named among 15 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award by FCS Stats Perform on Monday morning.
Since 1987, the award has been presented annually to the national coach of the year in Division I FCS college football.
Taylor, in his second season as Jackson State’s head coach, has led the team to a 10-2 record and a perfect regular-season record in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in eight games.
Berry, in his first year at SC State after years of success at Division II Benedict College, led the Bulldogs to a 9-2 record, an undefeated mark in the MEAC, and a trip to the Celebration Bowl to play for an HBCU national championship.
George, in his fourth season at Tennessee State, guided the Tigers to a share of the Big South/OVC championship for the first time since 1999. TSU also earned an at-large berth to the FCS playoffs, it’s first appearance since 2013.
All 13 FCS leagues are represented by an Eddie Robinson Award finalist. The winner, to be selected by a national voting panel, will be announced on Dec. 5 and honored at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Banquet on Jan. 4 in Frisco, Texas.
The list includes Chennis Berry (South Carolina State), Kevin Cahill (Lehigh), Jim Fleming (Rhode Island), Eddie George (Tennessee State), Russ Huesman (Richmond), Mike Jacobs (Mercer), Clint Killough (UIW), Adam Lechtenberg (Central Connecticut State), Brandon Moore (San Diego), Keith Patterson (Abilene Christian), Tim Plough (UC Davis), Jon Pope (Columbia), Brock Spack (Illinois State), T.C. Taylor (Jackson State), and Brent Vigen (Montana State).
