AFCA Release (.pdf)

Shippensburg University football head coach Mark 'Mac' Maciejewski '92/'96M was named the 2012 AFCA Division II Region 1 Coach of the Year on Monday morning – his first national coaching honor – after guiding the Red Raiders to an 11-2 record and the second round of the NCAA playoffs.

Maciejewski, in his second year at the helm, instructed a group of players that opened the season with 10 consecutive victories – eventually establishing Division II's longest active winning streak and maintaining the honor for several weeks – while also playing in the PSAC “State Game” and earning the No. 3 seed for Super Region 1 in the 2012 NCAA Football Championships.

SU hosted No. 4 seed Bloomsburg in the opening round of the postseason and defeated the Huskies, 58-20. The triumph marked the first NCAA tournament victory for Shippensburg since 1991 – a season in which Maciejewski was an All-American nose guard for the Red Raiders – and also marked just the second time in school history that a SU squad achieved 11 or more victories in a season. 

The 2012 edition of the Red Raiders broke or tied 73 school records, scoring 609 points and 83 touchdowns en route to 6,889 yards of total offense. SU led the nation in total offense (529.92) and ranked second in scoring offense by averaging 46.8 points per game.

While the team made many headlines for its prolific offensive production, the defensive-minded head coach also oversaw a defensive unit that scored a school-record six defensive touchdowns. Junior defensive end Jake Metz set a school record with 11.5 sacks this season to pace a unit that totaled 92 tackles for loss – the third-most in SU single-season history.

Among the individual awards that have been handed out to SU players include the PSAC Eastern Division Offensive Player of the Year and Daktronics Super Region 1 Offensive Player of the Year award to junior quarterback Zach Zulli, who is one of three finalists for the Harlon Hill trophy. Eleven players earned All-PSAC Eastern Division honors, six of whom also received All-Super Region 1 accolades.

Maciejewski is the first Shippensburg head coach to be named an AFCA regional coach of the year since Rocky Rees was honored in 2009.

The 2012 Regional Coach of the Year winners will be recognized at the AFCA?Coach of the Year Dinner at the 2013 AFCA?Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The dinner is scheduled for Tuesday, January 8.

Division II Regional Coaches of the Year
Region 1: Mark Maciejewski, Shippensburg University
Region 2: Connell Maynor, Winston-Salem State University
Region 3: Lee Owens, Ashland University
Region 4: Don Carthel, West Texas A&M University
Region 5: Aaron Keen, Minnesota State University-Mankato