AFCA RELEASE
WACO, Texas – Head coach E.J. Mills of the Amherst College football team has been named the 2015 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Region 1 Coach of the Year, as announced Monday by the AFCA.
The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association's five divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III and NAIA. The winners are selected by active members of the Association who vote for coaches in their respective regions and divisions.
The 2015 Regional Coach of the Year winners will be recognized at the AFCA Coach of the Year Dinner at the 2016 AFCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas. The dinner is scheduled for Tuesday, January 12.
Of the 25 coaches honored, Mills was one of 13 to be recognized multiple times. The 2015 NESCAC Coach of the Year was also presented the honor after he guided Amherst to a perfect 8-0 season in 2009 – the first 8-0 season since 1984. Since then, Amherst has posted three more perfect campaigns, with its latest occurring in 2015.
Under Mills's tutelage, the 2015 Purple & White squad won its second consecutive NESCAC title outright, while posting back-to-back 8-0 seasons for the first time in the program's 136-year history. Amherst defeated its opponents on average of 17.75 points this season, while boasting a balanced attack that saw the Purple & White lead the NESCAC in several categories: points per game (27.6), rushing yards per game (201.5), yards per rush (4.6), third-down conversion percentage (48%), field goal percentage (90.0%), PATs (24-28), red zone percentage (87%), red zone touchdowns (18-31), defensive touchdowns (2), and scoring defense (9.9) – which also ranked third in all of Division III.
Amherst's historic season also featured 15 All-NESCAC selections – the most ever by the Purple & White – as Mills claimed his second consecutive Coach of the Year honor, and fourth overall. Amherst is also riding a 19-game winning streak, which is a program record, as Mills possesses the highest winning percentage in Amherst football history with a mark of .770 (117-35) in 19 years at the helm of the program.
