Robert Talley has engineered a 4-1 start for Stonehill, their best since 1996. |
North Easton, Mass. - With the Stonehill
football season at its midpoint and the Skyhawks sitting at 4-1 for
the first time since 1996, now is the time to cast your vote for
Stonehill head coach Robert Talley for the 2007 Liberty Mutual
Coach of the Year Award, honoring college football coaches who best
exemplify responsibility and excellence on and off the field of
play.
Expanded from the inaugural 2006 award given to one winner (Greg
Schiano, Rutgers), Liberty Mutual will present its 2007 award to a
coach from all four NCAA divisions.
Each winner will receive $50,000 from Liberty Mutual to support his civic and charitable activities, $20,000 in scholarship to his school's alumni association, and will be recognized in the permanent Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year display at the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.
The Skyhawks, who are 4-0 in the Northeast-10, rank first in the
country in turnover margin at +12 and ninth in the nation in
scoring defense, yielding only 11.6 points per game.
Fans across the country are encouraged to visit http://www.coachoftheyear.com/
until November 27 to vote for the college football coach who they
believe embodies responsibility - not only to his own team and
players, but also in society and in his community. All football
head coaches at an NCAA-member college or university at all
division levels are eligible for consideration.
The top 25 fan vote getters in each NCAA division will be scored
using a model endorsed by the College Football Hall of Fame on such
criteria as coaching excellence, sportsmanship and integrity,
academic excellence and community commitment. The scoring will
result in ten finalists in Division I-A (Football Bowl Subdivision)
and five finalists from Division I-AA (Football Championship
Subdivision), Division II, and Division III.
Fans return to http://www.coachoftheyear.com/
between December 5 and 15 to vote among the finalists. An elite
committee comprised of College Football Hall of Fame coaches and
players, and members of the national college football media also
will cast votes to determine the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year
in each division. Fan votes contribute 20 percent to each coach's
final score, with the Hall of Fame voters and media contributing 55
percent and 25 percent, respectively.
A half-hour ABC/ESPN special will profile the four winners on
December 29 at 5:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. PT).