https://www.afca.com/afca/Article/2018ACCFCA
WACO, TEXAS – Iowa Western Community College Head Coach Scott Strohmeier has been named the 2017 American Community College Football Coaches Association (ACCFCA) Coach of the Year. The award will be presented to Strohmeier at the American Football Coaches Awards, presented by Amway, on Tuesday, January 9, at the 2018 AFCA Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"I am completely honored and humbled to be awarded the 2017 ACCFCA Coach of the Year Award and accept it on behalf of my coaching staff and the fine student-athletes at Iowa Western," Strohmeier said. "I really appreciate the AFCA and my fellow coaches for giving me this great honor."
Strohmeier earned his second ACCFCA Coach of the Year honor after leading the Reivers to an 11-1 overall record, the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference title and a victory in the Graphic Edge Bowl. Iowa Western finished the season ranked No. 2 in the final National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Top 20 poll. He won his first ACCFCA honor in 2012 after guiding the Reivers to the program's first-ever NJCAA national title.
Strohmeier completed his tenth season as head coach at Iowa Western and has a record of 84-19. Including his three years as head coach at North Iowa Area Community College, Strohmeier has an overall record of 100-33. He has guided the Reivers to two No. 2 finishes, eight Region XI championships and five Graphic Edge Bowl titles. Before this season, Strohmeier had sent 139 players to play in NCAA programs, with 73 going on to play at the NCAA Division I level.
Helping the Reivers finish 11-1 and No. 2 to end the season was their powerful offense. They led the nation in rushing touchdowns with 46 and finishing third in yards of offense per game with 515.4 and third in scoring with 550 points. They also totaled 2,883 passing yards, which ranked them ninth in the country. This season the Reivers also knocked off three teams that were ranked in the final NJCAA Top 20.
Strohmeier arrived on the Reiver campus in 2008 after spending the previous three seasons as the head coach at North Iowa Area Community College, where he turned a struggling program into a Top 20, post-season worthy football team. After a tough first year as the Trojans head coach, Strohmeier quickly established winning practices as his teams achieved 7-4 records each year and qualified for the Graphics Edge Bowl twice. Before his time at North Iowa Area Community College in 2005, Strohmeier spent six years (1998-2003) as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a year as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Truman State University (2004). Strohmeier has also been the quarterbacks coach at each stop in his coaching journey, which has helped him send six Reiver quarterbacks to higher levels of collegiate football, including schools such as Ole Miss, Iowa State and Maryland.
About the ACCFCA: Before 2000 the two junior college associations, the California Community College Football Coaches Association and the National Junior College Football Coaches Association, each had its own Coach of the Year. In 2000, the AFCA invited the organizations to meet at the AFCA Convention. Three national goals were set: to form a national community college football coaches' association, to study the possibility of a national championship game between the two organizations and to select a yearly National Coach of the Year who would be recognized by the AFCA. Their initial goal, to create an umbrella coaches association, has been accomplished. In 2002, the American Community College Football Coaches Association selected its first national coach of the year, Michael White of Reedley College. Past winners of the ACCFCA Coach of the Year are: Troy Morrell, Butler Community College, 2003; Tim Hatten, Pearl River Community College, 2004; Don Dillon, American River College, 2005; John Featherstone, El Camino College, 2006; Jeff Chudy, Bakersfield College, 2007; Jeff Jordan, Butte College, 2008; Brad Franchione, Blinn College, 2009; Bob Jastrab, Mt. San Antonio College, 2010; Scott Strohmeier, Iowa Western Community College, 2012; Bert Williams, Georgia Military College, 2013; Buddy Stephens, East Mississippi Community College, 2011 and 2014; Mark McElroy, Saddleback College, 2015 and Jeff Sims, Garden City Community College, 2016.
About the American Football Coaches Awards
The American Football Coaches Awards, presented by Amway, featuring the AFCA National Coach of the Year, will be broadcast on the USA TODAY Sports Facebook page on January 9, 2018 at 8 p.m. EST. This marks the second time the AFCA will broadcast its annual awards. The live one-and-a-half-hour program will air from the Crown Ballroom of the Charlotte Convention Center and coincide with the AFCA's annual convention. Follow @WeAreAFCA on Twitter or visit AFCA.com for more information.
