Stephens named ACCFCA coach of the year
Published 5:00 am Saturday, December 20, 2014
- East Mississippi Community College head football coach Buddy Stephens is pictured giving instructions to his players during a game this past season. Stephens was recently named coach of the year by the American Community College Football Coaches Association.
WACO, Texas — Head football coach Buddy Stephens continues to make history for the Lions of East Mississippi Community College.
On the heels of guiding EMCC to a third NJCAA football championship in a four-year span, Stephens has become the first two-time recipient of the coveted American Community College Football Coaches Association (ACCFCA) Coach of the Year honor. The announcement was made Thursday by the American Football Coaches Association.
As selected by voting members of the ACCFCA affiliated with the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as the California Community College Athletic Association, Stephens will be presented the award at the American Football Coaches Association Coach of the Year Dinner Tuesday, Jan. 13, at the 2015 AFCA Convention in Louisville, Ky.
“It’s an extraordinarily humbling feeling for me to receive this award because this is something that is voted on by your peers,” said Stephens, who was previously tabbed the 2011 ACCFCA National Coach of the Year. “To me, it’s a coaching staff of the year award, so I’m extremely honored to be able to share this award with our assistant coaches as a reflection of all of their hard work.”
With a seven-year head coaching record of 68-10 (.872), Stephens guided the 2014 EMCC Lions to their third unbeaten (12-0) campaign in four years en route to establishing an all-time NJCAA standard with a third national title during an ongoing four-year period.
Having claimed previous national championships in 2011 and then again in 2013 with identical unblemished marks, EMCC successfully defended last year’s national title by earning a 34-17 victory over second-ranked Iowa Western Community College Dec. 7 in Biloxi, during the 2014 NJCAA Football Championship Game/Mississippi Bowl VII.
Along with becoming the first NJCAA school since Butler (Kan.) Community College (2007-08 & 1998-99) to win back-to-back NJCAA football crowns, East Mississippi also collected the program’s fourth Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges (MACJC) State/NJCAA Region 23 gridiron championship in six seasons this past year.
With a dominant composite division mark of 39-3 (.929) dating back to 2008, the 2014 Lions also secured their sixth MACJC North Division regular-season title in a seven-year span under Stephens’ leadership.
