Jan. 15, 2010

Villanova University head football coach Andy Talley has been named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS National Coach of the Year. Talley earns the award after leading the Wildcats to the program's first-ever NCAA Football National Championship. Talley was honored by the AFCA along with TCU's Gary Patterson (FBS), Northwest Missouri State's Mel Tjeerdsma (Division II), Wisconsin-Whitewater's Lance Leipold (Division III) and Sioux Falls' Kalen DeBoer (NAIA).

Talley also earned AFCA National Coach of the Year honors in 1997 and he becomes just the 17th coach to win the award twice. This past year, Talley led Villanova to a 14-1 record, the CAA Football title and the FCS National Championship. He was also named the 2009 CAA Coach of the Year and the AFCA Region I Coach of the Year.

The all-time winningest coach in CAA history with 107 conference victories, Talley's 25-year Villanova record currently stands at 179-102-1 and his 30-year career coaching mark is 207-120-2. This past season with a 36-7 win over Rhode Island on Oct. 24, Talley became the 55th coach in NCAA history to reach the 200 career win plateau.