John Grass A Finalist For STATS FCS Coach of the Year
11/23/2015 1:38:00 PM | Football
Jacksonville State head coach John Grass has been named a finalist for the STATS FCS Coach of the Year, the organization announced on Monday.
Grass, in his second year as a collegiate head coach, made NCAA history this season in becoming the first FCS coach to begin his career with a perfect 16-0 conference record in leading Jacksonville State to its second-straight OVC Championship. Jax State became just the third program in OVC history to complete back-to-back 8-0 seasons, joining Eastern Kentucky (1993 & 1994) and Murray State (1995 & 1996).
Grass' team started the season with a victory at No. 8 Chattanooga (the eventual Southern Conference champions) and followed that by becoming the first-ever FCS team to take a ranked FBS opponent to overtime in giving No. 6 ranked Auburn all it could handle before falling 27-20. Despite the loss the Gamecocks ascended to No. 1 in the STATS FCS Top 25 poll, the first-ever No. 1 ranking at any level of football in program history.
JSU was the first OVC team to be atop the FCS rankings since the 1999 season and has held that No. 1 ranking for 11-straight weeks entering the postseason. This year's OVC Championship is the fifth in program history and JSU will be making its sixth FCS Playoff berth, this time as the No. 1 overall national seed.
Jacksonville State is currently the only FCS team to rank in the Top 9 nationally in both total offense (4th at 503.0 yards/game) and total defense (5th at 277.1 yards/game allowed). The Gamecocks also rank in the Top 10 nationally in nine other categories including tackles-for-loss (third), fourth down conversion defense (third), fourth down conversion percentage (fourth), rushing defense (sixth), rushing offense (seventh), scoring defense (seventh), sacks (seventh), third down conversion defense (eighth) and scoring offense (ninth).
Grass, in his second year as a collegiate head coach, made NCAA history this season in becoming the first FCS coach to begin his career with a perfect 16-0 conference record in leading Jacksonville State to its second-straight OVC Championship. Jax State became just the third program in OVC history to complete back-to-back 8-0 seasons, joining Eastern Kentucky (1993 & 1994) and Murray State (1995 & 1996).
Grass' team started the season with a victory at No. 8 Chattanooga (the eventual Southern Conference champions) and followed that by becoming the first-ever FCS team to take a ranked FBS opponent to overtime in giving No. 6 ranked Auburn all it could handle before falling 27-20. Despite the loss the Gamecocks ascended to No. 1 in the STATS FCS Top 25 poll, the first-ever No. 1 ranking at any level of football in program history.
JSU was the first OVC team to be atop the FCS rankings since the 1999 season and has held that No. 1 ranking for 11-straight weeks entering the postseason. This year's OVC Championship is the fifth in program history and JSU will be making its sixth FCS Playoff berth, this time as the No. 1 overall national seed.
Jacksonville State is currently the only FCS team to rank in the Top 9 nationally in both total offense (4th at 503.0 yards/game) and total defense (5th at 277.1 yards/game allowed). The Gamecocks also rank in the Top 10 nationally in nine other categories including tackles-for-loss (third), fourth down conversion defense (third), fourth down conversion percentage (fourth), rushing defense (sixth), rushing offense (seventh), scoring defense (seventh), sacks (seventh), third down conversion defense (eighth) and scoring offense (ninth).
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