At its national convention yesterday, the American Football Coaches Association named Central College coach Jeff McMartin as the Division III Coach of the Year.

It’s the highest honor of McMartin’s 18-year career at Central and it comes on the heels of a 12-1 season that included a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals.  The Dutch went 10-0 during the regular season and won two playoff games for the first time since 2007.  Five Central players were tabbed as All-Americans, including quarterback Blaine Hawkins, who won the Gagliardi Award as D3’s most outstanding player.

McMartin says that this year’s team achieved one of the loftiest goals that he sets each season.

“One of my goals every year is to become a dominant team that is nationally recognized.  We were very dominant in a lot of games we played and we were nationally recognized.  You can also take that meaning to another level, because competing for national championship and competing for titles are something I want very much for this program, and I know our players want that and the community does as well.”

This was the fourth unbeaten regular season team in McMartin’s tenure as Central head coach and his overall record of 140-43 puts him among the top Division III coaches in terms of winning percentage.

He’s the fourth Dutch coach to receive National Coach of the Year honors, joining Gary Boeyink (women’s basketball, 1993), Megan Clayberg (volleyball, 1998 and 2000) and George Wares (softball, 2003.)