Wheaton head coach Mike Swider named AFCA Region Coach of the Year

Wheaton,

Ill. (12/9) - The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA)

has named Wheaton College football coach Mike Swider the Regional "Coach

of the Year". The coaches of the Region, the voters for the honor, selected

Swider. "What makes this award so special is that this is the only coach of

the year award voted on exclusively by the coaches themselves," AFCA Executive

Director Grant Teaff said. "The winners are selected by the coaches they compete

with and against on a daily basis."

Swider was selected with the award for leading Wheaton to a

12-1 season, its second consecutive College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

(CCIW) Championship and third league title in four years. Wheaton concluded

the regular season ranked fourth in the AFCA Division III Coaches Poll.

The 12 wins set a new school record for wins in a season, as

has the team's current 19-game regular season winning streak. Wheaton's repeat

CCIW Championship was its first back-to-back conference titles since the 1958-59

seasons. The Thunder was the first program to win an outright CCIW Championship

in back-to-back seasons since Augustana accomplished the feat in the 1986-87

campaigns. The 1977 Wheaton grad owns a 61-20 career record for a.753 winning

percentage. His 61 career wins ranks him third on Wheaton's all-time list

and he's first all-time in winning percentage with a 76.3% mark. Swider has

guided Wheaton to three CCIW Championships in his eight seasons with league

titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003.