Simpson became the ninth All-American selection at Morgan State and the first in almost 15 years
BALTIMORE, Md. – Chad Simpson, one of the Football Championship Subdivision's (FCS) leading rushers, has been selected to the 2007 American Football Coaches Association Football Championship Subdivision Coaches' All-America Team announced Monday.
Simpson became the ninth All-American selection at Morgan State and the first in almost 15 years (Matthew Steeple, 1993).
Simpson, a first-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference selection, was named MEAC Player of the Year after breaking Morgan State’s single season record for rushing yards. He became Morgan State’s third MEAC MVP in 28 years (Darrell Coulter, 1979), and the second in four years (Bradshaw Littlejohn, 2003) after running for 1,402 yards. He led the MEAC in scoring (90 points)and ranked second in all-purpose yards by averaging 161.8 yards per game.
Simpson had five 100-yard games and two 200-plus yard games, including a career-high 221 yard performance against Winston-Salem State. Simpson was selected MEAC Player of the Week three times.
The 5-foot-9, 210-pounder became the 4th leading rusher in school history by completing his two-year career at Morgan State by accounting for 2,197 yards and 144 points.
Morgan State’s All-American selections include:
1965 - Willie Lanier, LB; 1967 – Jeff Queen, DE; 1970 – Willie Germany, DB; 1972 – Stan Cherry, LB; Eugene Simms, LB – 1973; Joe Fowlkes, DB – 1978; 1980 - Mike Holston, WR; and 1989 - Matthew Steeple, DL.
2007 AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America Team
Team Background
The AFCA has selected an All-America team every year since 1945. What makes these teams so special is that they are the only ones chosen exclusively by the men who know the players the best - the coaches themselves. The five teams now chosen for each AFCA division evolved from a single 11-player squad in 1945. From 1945 until 1967, only one team was chosen. From 1967 through 1971, two teams, University Division and College Division, were selected. In 1972, the College Division was split into College I and College II.
In 1979, the University Division was split into two teams - Division I-A and Division I-AA. In 1996, the College I and College II teams were renamed Division II and Division III respectively. The AFCA started selecting an NAIA-only team in 2006. From 1965-81, a 22-player (11 offensive, 11 defensive) team was chosen. In 1982, a punter and placekicker were added to the team. In 1997, a return specialist was
added, giving us the current 25-player team. The return specialist position has been replaced by an all-purpose player this season.
Selection Process
The AFCA's Football Champion-ship Subdivision All-America Selection Committee is made up of three head coaches from each of the AFCA's nine districts, one of whom serves as a district chairman, along with another head coach who serves as the chairman of the selection committee. The coaches in each district are responsible for ranking the top players in their respective districts prior to a conference call between the district chairmen and the committee chairman on which the team is chosen.
Top Teams: Eastern Kentucky has been represented a total of 23 times by 21 players on the AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America Team since 1979. The Colonels are followed by Delaware (17/14), Appalachian State (17/13), Montana (16/16), Georgia Southern (16/12), Furman (15/14), Youngstown State (14/13), Northern Iowa (14/11), Grambling State (13/12), Cal Poly (12/11), Jackson State (12/11), Stephen F. Austin (12/11), Northwestern State (12/10), Eastern Illinois (11/10), Weber State (11/10) and Western Kentucky (11/10) among current FCS schools.
Top Conference: The Colonial Athletic Association (formerly Atlantic 10) (98 appearances/89 players) is tops among all FCS conferences on the AFCA FCS Coaches All-America Team since 1979. Following the CAA is the Southern (92 appearances/80 players), Gateway (66/61), Ohio Valley (57/53), Big Sky (56/56), Southland (55/51), Southwestern Athletic (45/43), Patriot (42/41), Mid-Eastern Athletic (28/26), Ivy League (26/26), Pioneer (11/11), Northeast (11/9), Great West (7/7), Big South (5/5) and Metro Atlantic Athletic (5/4). These totals reflect FCS selections only from current conference members. Several schools had additional players chosen when they played in divisions other than FCS.
2007 Conference-by-Conference Breakdown: Colonial Athletic - 4; Big Sky - 2; Gateway - 2; Great West Football - 2; Ivy - 2; Mid-Eastern Athletic - 2; Patriot - 2; Southern - 2; Southland - 2; SWAC - 2; Big South - 1; Northeast - 1; Ohio Valley - 1.
First Time Schools: Offensive Lineman Mitch Erickson of South Dakota State and linebacker Zach East of Prairie View A&M are the first players from their respective schools to earn AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America honors. South Dakota State previously had nine players selected to AFCA Coaches' All-America teams when they were a member of NCAA Division II.
Consecutive Years: Eastern Kentucky leads all schools, having had at least one player named to the AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America Team in each of the first 15 years a FCS team was chosen (1979-93).
Repeat After Me: Offensive lineman Kerry Brown of Appalachian State is the only repeat selection from last year's FCS Coaches' All-America team. Linebackers Gary Reasons of Northwestern State (La.) (1981-83) and Dexter Coakley of Appalachian State (1994-96) are the only three-time AFCA All-Americans in the FCS.
Yearly Leaders: Grambling (1979-DL Joe Gordon, LB Aldrich Allen and DB Robert Salters) and Jackson State (1996-QB Grailyn Pratt, LB Otha Evans and DB Sean Woodson) are the only schools to have more than two players named to the AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America Team in one year.
One Player, Two Schools: Punter Mark Bounds is the only player to earn Coaches' All-America honors at two different schools. He was named to the AFCA College Division I team in 1990 while playing for West Texas A&M. He transferred to Texas Tech after West Texas dropped football and earned FBS All-America honors as a Red Raider in 1991.
Class Distinction: This year's AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America Team is made up of 21 seniors and four juniors.
For more information on the AFCA and its programs log on to the AFCA's
website at www.afca.com.
