Football | 12/6/2023 12:46:00 PM
Cortland football head coach Curt Fitzpatrick has been named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Region 1 Coach of the Year. He becomes the first Empire 8 coach since Jason Mangone of SUNY Brockport (2017 and 2018) to win the award.
Fitzpatrick is one of five coaches honored in Division III by the AFCA, along with Greg Chimera of Johns Hopkins, Jerheme Urban of Trinity (Texas), Jason Couch of Alma and Chris Winter of Wartburg. The AFCA uses different labels for their five regions than the NCAA does for its six regions, of which Cortland is in Region 2.
The AFCA winners are selected by active AFCA members in their respective regions. Each regional winner is a finalist for AFCA Division III National Coach of the Year, which will be announced in January.
Fitzpatrick has led Cortland to a current record of 12-1 and the program's first-ever NCAA Division III tournament semifinal appearance. Cortland won the Empire 8 title for the third straight season with a 6-0 record and finished the regular season with a 9-1 overall record. Cortland leads all of Division III with 343 first downs and is ranked fifth nationally, averaging 514.8 yards of offense per game. The Red Dragins are ninth in Division III, averaging 46.6 points per game. Cortland has out-scored its opponents, 606-245 this season.
The Red Dragons have defeated Endicott, Grove City and Alma in NCAA play and will travel to Randolph-Macon (Va.) for the semifinals on Saturday, Dec. 9 at noon.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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