AFCA All American Team Announced

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West Liberty tight end Ryan Travis and Morehouse defensive lineman Derrin Nettles headline the 2010 AFCA Division II Coaches’ All-America Team announced today by the American Football Coaches Association.

The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions. 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.

Travis led the nation in receiving yards per game (140.2) and was No. 4 in the nation in total receiving yards (1,402). He scored 15 touchdowns and averaged 11.1 yards per catch. Nettles was No. 2 in the nation in tackles for loss (27.5). He also recorded 59 total tackles, 37 of which were solo, with nine sacks, 12 quarterback hurries and seven forced fumbles.

2010 AFCA Division II Coaches’ All-America Team

Offense

Pos.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
WR	Edmund Gates	6-1	200	Sr.	Abilene Christian	Chris Thomsen	Vernon, Texas (Vernon)
WR	Fred Williams	6-0	195	Sr.	St. Cloud State	Scott Underwood	Milwaukee, Wis. (South Division)
TE	Ryan Travis	6-3	235	Sr.	West Liberty	Roger Waialae	Massillon, Ohio (Tuslaw)
OL	Cameron Bradfield	6-5	295	Sr.	Grand Valley St.	Matt Mitchell	Grand Rapids, Mich. (Creston)
OL	Amini Silatolu	6-3	320	Jr.	Midwestern St.	Bill Maskill	Tracy, Calif. (West)
OL	Brandon Fusco	6-5	305	Sr.	Slippery Rock	George Mihalik	Cranberry Township, Pa. (Seneca Valley)
OL	Chandler Rearden	6-1	265	Jr.	Lenoir-Rhyne	Fred Goldsmith	Greenwood, S.C. (Greenwood)
OL	Taylor Boggs	6-3	303	Sr.	Humboldt St.	Rob Smith	Upland, Calif. (Upland)
QB	Eric Czerniewski	6-0	190	Sr.	Central Missouri	Jim Svoboda	Montgomery City, Mo. (Montgomery County)
RB	Phil Milbrath	5-9	200	Sr.	Michigan Tech	Tom Kearly	Norway, Mich. (Norway)
RB	Jonas Randolph*	5-10	185	Jr.	Mars Hill	Tim Clifton	Daleville, Ala. (Daleville)

Defense

Pos.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
DL	Brandon Williams	6-3	325	So.	Missouri Southern St.	Bart Tatum	Kirkwood, Mo. (Rockwood Summit)
DL	Marc Schiechl*	6-3	260	Sr.	Colorado Mines	Bob Stitt	Lakewood, Colo. (Bear Creek)
DL	Daniel Webb	6-1	260	Sr.	Emporia St.	Garin Higgins	Ft. Collins, Colo. (Rocky Mountain)
DL	Derrin Nettles	6-4	305	Sr.	Morehouse	Rich Freeman	Montgomery, Ala. (Sidney Lanier)
LB	Tressor Baptiste	6-0	240	Sr.	Texas A&M-Kingsville	Bo Atterberry	New York, N.Y. (Curtis)
LB	Larry Dean	6-0	216	Sr.	Valdosta St.	David Dean	Tifton, Ga. (Tift County)
LB	Adam Bighill	5-10	222	Sr.	Central Washington	Blaine Bennett	Montesano, Wash. (Montesano)
DB	Craig Ray	6-1	206	Sr.	Indianapolis	Bob Bartolomeo	Plainfield, Ind. (Plainfield)
DB	Ryan Jones	5-11	195	Sr.	Northwest Missouri St.	Mel Tjeerdsma	Liberty, Mo. (Liberty)
DB	Nate Robinson	5-9	158	Jr.	Northeastern St. (Okla.)	Kenny Evans	Rockingham, N.C. (Richmond Senior)
DB	Caleb Singleton	6-4	215	Sr.	Western Oregon	Arne Ferguson	Salem, Ore. (West Salem)

Specialists

Pos.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Cl.	School	Coach	Hometown (High School)
P	Ronnie Partridge	5-10	183	Jr.	Stillman	L.C. Cole	Ridge Spring, S.C. (Ridge Spring-Monetta)
PK	Steve Ivanisevic	5-11	195	Sr.	Washburn	Craig Schurig	Darien, Ill. (Hindsale South)
AP	Stephan Neville	5-8	168	Jr.	Stonehill	Robert Talley	Foxborough, Mass. (Foxborough)

*-2009 AFCA All-American

Team Background: 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 — FBS and FCS. In 1996, the College I and College II teams were renamed Division II and Division III respectively. In 2006, the AFCA started selecting an NAIA-only team.  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 was replaced by an all-purpose player in 2006.

Selection Process: The AFCA’s Division II 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: Texas A&M-Kingsville has been represented a total of 33 times by 29 players on the AFCA Division II Coaches’ All-America Team. Trailing Texas A&M-Kingsville is Indiana (Pa.) (18/16), Pittsburg State (17/14), Northwest Missouri State (16/12), Grand Valley State (15/14), North Alabama (15/14), Abilene Christian (14/13), American International (14/13), Carson-Newman (14/13), Ferris State (14/12) and Texas A&M-Commerce (14/12).

Consecutive Years: Texas A&M-Kingsville had at least one player named to the AFCA Division II Coaches’ All-America Team for 18 straight seasons, from 1986 to 2003, the longest streak by any team in Division II. Northwest Missouri State has the longest current streak with a player selected to the AFCA Division II Coaches’ All-America Team at 15 straight seasons, from 1996 to present.

Repeat After Me: Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Johnny Bailey is the only player to earn Coaches’ All-America honors in four consecutive years at any level. Bailey was a four-year pick at runningback in 1986-87-88-89.

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 I-A All-America honors as a Red Raider in 1991.

Class Distinction: This year’s Division II Coaches’ All-America Team is made up of 18 seniors, six juniors and one sophomore.

First Time Schools: Amini Silatolu of Midwestern State, Ronnie Partridge of Stillman, Stephan Neville of Stonehill and Ryan Travis of West Liberty have all earned AFCA Coaches’ All-America Team honors for the first time for their schools this year.