WACO, Texas – Head Coach
Jay Long has been named one of five Regional Coaches of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the organization announced Tuesday.
The AFCA names five regional coaches of the year in each of the association's five divisions – Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, Division III and NAIA for a total of 25 winners yearly across all of college football. The winners are voted on and selected by members of the coaches association.
The AFCA honor, the first regional honor for Coach Long, comes just four days after the CSC head coach won his first RMAC Coach of the Year award, also a peer-voted honor.
Coach Long is joined by Kutztown's Jim Clements, West Florida's Kaleb Nobles, Northwest Missouri State's John McMenamin and Central Washington's Chris Fisk as this year's Division II honorees.
At Chadron State, Coach Long and his staff led a five-win turnaround from a 3-8 team to an 8-4 record in 2025, including the program's first postseason appearance since 2012. The Eagles were in contention for the RMAC title until the final week of the regular season and finished with an 8-1 record in conference play.
The Eagles made that year-to-year improvement despite playing a schedule that included eight of 12 games on the road, four matchups against nationally-ranked teams and a season-opening game against a Division I FCS school (Northern Colorado).
Chadron State's offense scored 104 more points than a season ago while its defense led the RMAC in regular season total defense (yards allowed per game). The Eagles also went 4-2 in one-score games this season, including 1-2 during a string of three consecutive games against top 10 nationally-ranked opponents to end the season, all of which were decided by one score.
As a Regional Coach of the Year recipient, Coach Long is a finalist along with the other four Division II honorees for the AFCA Division II National Coach of the Year honor. That award will be announced on December 15.
