WACO, Tex. – Another accolade in a season full of them, Presbyterian College football head coach Steve Englehart was selected as the 2025 FCS Region 4 Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) on Tuesday.

The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association's five divisions: FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III, and NAIA. The winners are voted on by active members of the Association.

Englehart joins Lehigh's Kevin Cahill, Tennessee Tech's Bobby Wilder, West Georgia's Joel Taylor, and Montana's Bobby Hauck as the five Region Coach of the Year winners at the FCS level.

This comes less than 24 hours after Englehart was named a top-15 finalist for the Stats Perform Eddie Robinson Award, presented to the FCS National Coach of the Year.

Each winner of the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year awards will be honored on Monday, January 12 during the 2026 AFCA Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.






 
AFCA Award History

 
- The AFCA began recognizing district coaches of the year following the 1960 season. They first awarded eight district winners in each of two divisions: university and college. In the years since, the distribution has evolved into the 25 recipients we see today.

- Englehart automatically becomes a top-five finalist for AFCA FCS National Coach of the Year by virtue of Tuesday's announcement. The winner will be unveiled on December 15.

- Eighteen coaches are being awarded their first AFCA Region Coach of the Year accolades, Englehart among them. This is the first time in Presbyterian history that a head coach has been selected for this prestigious honor.


 
TEN-WIN BLUE HOSE

 
- Englehart has completely transformed the trajectory of PC football in his four seasons at the helm, molding a 1-10 program in his inaugural campaign to new heights in 2025.

- The Blue Hose started this season with a 7-0 mark and a ranking as high as #16 in the AFCA Coaches Poll. Presbyterian went over a full calendar year without losing once, winning 11 consecutive games over that span.

- What started as back-to-back wins over the last two Southern Conference champions (including a 15-10 decision over eventual #6 seed Mercer), PC ended the season with 10 victories for the third time ever.

- The Pioneer Football League's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs was awarded to Drake, leaving the Blue Hose as one of the "First Four Out" in the field of 24. They display a better overall record than 14 of the 16 teams that were selected for first-round inclusion.


 
ON, ON PC

 
- Presbyterian achieved numerous program records – both from a team and individual perspective – as they went undefeated in six home games for the first time in 27 years.

- The Blue Hose set a new Division-I-era benchmark with 2,124 rushing yards, averaging 45 points per game when playing at Bailey Memorial Stadium and allowing the sixth-fewest overall points per game nationally (16).

- PC surpassed 5,000 yards of total offense as they reached the 10-win summit for the first time since 2005. They were one of the last eight undefeated FCS teams standing and they were also the last unbeaten D-I college in the state of South Carolina.

- The Scotsmen gave up the fourth-lowest yards-per-game in the nation and conceded a third-down conversion only 30 percent of the time (#3 in FCS).

- Englehart achieved his 90^th career win and 20^th at PC in the penultimate game of the season, a 23-9 victory at St. Thomas. He currently holds the second-most active wins of any head coach in the Pioneer Football League.


 
2025 AFCA Regional Coach of the Year Winners

 
FOOTBALL BOWL SUBDIVISION

Region 1: Brent Key – Georgia Tech

Region 2: Clark Lea – Vanderbilt

Region 3: Curt Cignetti – Indiana

Region 4: Joey McGuire – Texas Tech

Region 5: Timmy Chang – Hawaii


 
FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SUBDIVISION

Region 1: Kevin Cahill – Lehigh

Region 2: Bobby Wilder – Tennessee Tech

Region 3: Joel Taylor – West Georgia

Region 4: Steve Englehart – Presbyterian

Region 5: Bobby Hauck – Montana


 
DIVISION II

Region 1: Jim Clements – Kutztown

Region 2: Kaleb Nobles – West Florida

Region 3: John McMenamin – Northwest Missouri State

Region 4: Chris Fisk – Central Washington

Region 5: Jay Long – Chadron State


 
DIVISION III

Region 1: C.C. Grant – Coast Guard

Region 2: Dan Wodicka – Johns Hopkins

Region 3: Tony Kunczewski – Berry

Region 4: Brad Spencer – North Central

Region 5: Mike McElroy – Bethel (Minn.)


 
NAIA

Region 1: Myles Russ – Keiser

Region 2: Ted Karras – Marian

Region 3: Joel Osborn – Benedictine (Kan.)

Region 4: Joel Penner – Dordt

Region 5: Kyle Samson – Montana Tech