Football: Rodriguez Honored
December 09, 2003 12:13 PM | General
December 9, 2003
 |
||
| Rodriguez |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University’s Rich Rodriguez was named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 1 Coach of the Year, it was announced today.
Rodriguez led West Virginia to an 8-4 season, a share of the Big East championship with Miami, and a berth into the Toyota Gator Bowl to play Maryland. The Mountaineers began the season 1-4 before making one of the best turnarounds in school history.
WVU won seven straight games to finish the year, including wins over nationally ranked Virginia Tech and Pitt to secure its first conference football title since winning the Big East outright in 1993. West Virginia is currently ranked No. 20 by AP and No. 23 by USA Today/ESPN.
Rodriguez is now 20-16 as a West Virginia coach in his third season. Last year, Rodriguez also steered West Virginia to a strong finish on the way to a 9-4 record and a berth in the Continental Tire Bowl. West Virginia finished last year ranked in both polls.
Other regional coaches of the year are Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops (Region 4), Mississippi’s David Cutcliffe (Region 2), Northern Illinois’ Joe Nvak (Region 3) and USC’s Pete Carroll (Region 5).
All five regional winners will vie for the AFCA National Coach of the Year to be announced Jan. 6, 2004 in Orlando.
Voting was conducted by AFCA membership.
