Jerry Kill Finishes Second in Voting for Eddie Robinson 'Coach of the Year' Award
12/19/2003 | 12:00:00 | Football
Dec. 19, 2003
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Southern Illinois University football coach Jerry Kill finished second in the voting behind Wofford's Mike Ayers for the 2003 Eddie Robinson I-AA Coach-of-the-Year award, sponsored by the Sports Network.
Kill received 214 voters' points, while Ayers tallied 232. Kill had 23 first-place votes to Ayers' 24.
Southern Illinois improved from 4-8 a year ago to 10-2 in 2003. The Salukis won a share of the Gateway Conference regular-season title for the first time in school history and advanced to the I-AA playoffs for the first time since 1983 and just the second time overall. SIU played with just seven seniors on the 2003 squad and will return 10 starters on defense and seven on offense next season.
Ayers guided a team that had lost 13 starters and 19 letterwinners from the 2002 squad, helping the Terriers finish 10-1 in the regular season with a perfect 8-0 Southern Conference mark. After an opening week loss at I-A Air Force, Wofford reeled off 10 straight wins to end the year and earned its first-ever I-AA playoff bid in the process. Wofford finished the season ranked No. 2 in the country and advanced to the national semifinals.
The Sports Network also announced its other two major awards on Thursday night, honoring Colgate running back Jamaal Branch as the 17th winner of the Walter Payton Award and Idaho State defensive end Jared Allen as the 10th winner of the Buck Buchanan Award.
Branch rushed for 2,026 yards and 25 touchdowns in the 2003 regular season, bolting for 100 or more yards in 11 of 12 regular season contests. He led Colgate to a perfect 12-0 record, an outright Patriot League title, and a spot in the I-AA playoffs as the field's only undefeated team. The Raiders will play Delaware tonight for the I-AA championship. After sitting out all of 2002 for personal reasons, Branch led all of Division I football with 168.8 rushing yards and 12.5 points per game this season, setting Colgate records for yards (2,026), touchdowns (25), rushes (338), 100-yard games (11), and consecutive 100-yard games (11).
Allen recorded 17.5 sacks, 102 tackles, 28 tackles for loss, six forced fumbles, three recovered fumbles, and nine pass deflections during 2003, ranking among the Big Sky Conference leaders in several defensive categories. Allen, a First-Team All-America choice, led ISU to an 8-4 record this season, helping the school post its first back-to-back eight win seasons in school history. Idaho State finished the regular season ranked No. 21 in the nation.
Southern Illinois All-American safety Alexis Moreland was one of 16 finalists for the Buchanan Award.
2003 EDDIE ROBINSON AWARD VOTING
NAME (SCHOOL)
Mike Ayers (Wofford) - 232
Jerry Kill (Southern Illinois) - 214
Dick Biddle (Colgate) - 196
K.C. Keeler (Delaware) - 147
Tommy Tate (McNeese State) - 115
Howard Schnellenberger (Florida Atlantic) - 103
George Small (North Carolina A&T) - 80
Al Bagnoli (Penn) - 72
Jack Crowe (Jacksonville State) - 42
Mark Farley (Northern Iowa) - 37
Mark Whipple (Massachusetts) - 32
Kevin Callahan (Monmouth) - 28
Doug Williams (Grambling State) - 25
Jerome Souers (Northern Arizona) - 24
Charlie Coe (Alabama State) - 20
Pete Richardson (Southern) - 13
NOTE: Voting was conducted by a panel of 91 I-AA media members and media relations professionals. A first-place vote is worth five points, a second-place vote is worth four points, a third-place vote is worth three points, a fourth-place vote is worth two points, and a fifth-place vote is worth one point. Voters received a ballot with stats and information for each of the 16 finalists for all three awards. Votes were due by Wednesday, November 26, 2003, following the final week of the regular season. Postseason play has no effect on the outcome of the awards.