Fellowship of Christian Athletes Announces 2011 Grant Teaff Coach of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Award Winners

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes has selected University of Virginia’s Head Football Coach Mike London as the recipient of the 2011 FCA Grant Teaff Coach of the Year Award and former Duke University and Rice University Head Football Coach Fred Goldsmith as the recipient of the 2011 FCA Grant Teaff Lifetime Achievement Award. Both coaches were recognized during the FCA Breakfast held January 11th at the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Convention in San Antonio, Texas.

Coach Mike London is in his second season at the helm of the University of Virginia football program and led the Cavaliers to an impressive 2011 campaign tallying an 8-4 record and a trip to the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia. He also earned the 2011 ACC Coach of the Year award. Prior to joining the University of Virginia, London built a top-notch program at the University of Richmond leading them to a 24-5 overall record in two seasons. London led the Spiders to a NCAA Division I Football Championship Series (FCS) National Championship (2008) and NCAA Division I FCS quarterfinal appearance (2009). His efforts earned him FCS National Coach of the Year honors from the American Football Coaches Association and Schutt Sports/American Football Monthly magazine as well as the Black Coaches Association Male Coach of the Year in 2008. Coach London has also served as the defensive coordinator for the University of Virginia, NFL’s Houston Texans, Boston College and the College of William and Mary.

Coach Fred Goldsmith is a former American college football coach who most notably led the football program at both Rice University (1989-1993) and Duke University (1994-1998) but also coached at Franklin High School (N.C.) (2001-2005) and Lenoir-Rhyne University (N.C.) (2006-20011) until he retired in 2011. Coach Goldsmith amassed a collegiate head coaching overall record of 57-97-1 and a high school head coaching record of 47-15.

While at the helm of Duke University, Goldsmith led the Blue Devils to the Hall of Fame Bowl in 1995, which was one of Duke’s two bowl appearances in 30 years. He also received numerous awards including: ACC Coach of the Year award (1994) and the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year award (1994). Prior to Duke University, Goldsmith coached at Rice University from 1989-1993 where he led the program to its first winning season in 29 years in 1992. He was named Sports Illustrated Coach of the Year (1992) and Exxon SWC Coach of the Year (1991). Goldsmith finished his career at Lenoir-Rhyne University, an NCAA Division II school in North Carolina, where he coached five seasons (2006-2011). He led the program to an overall win-loss record of 47-15.

Named after Grant Teaff, former Baylor University coach, AFCA executive director and member of the FCA Board of Trustees, the Coach of the Year Award presented by FCA recognizes a football coach who exemplifies Christian principles and who is involved in FCA. The award is also based on the success/performance of the coach's team that season. Previous winners include Tommy Bowden, Tommy Tuberville and Jerry Kill.

The Grant Teaff Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a coach that has committed his life to being a Christian influence in the lives of student-athletes. Previous winners include Jimmie Keeling, Fisher DeBerry, Jerry Moore, Mel Tjeerdsma, Houston Nutt, Tony Dungy and Ken Sparks.

The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the heart and soul in sports, is touching millions of lives... one heart at a time. Since 1954, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes has been challenging coaches and athletes on the professional, college, high school, junior high and youth levels to use the powerful medium of athletics to impact the world for Jesus Christ. FCA is the largest Christian sports ministry in the world and focuses on serving local communities by equipping, empowering and encouraging people to make a difference for Christ.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes
8701 Leeds Road
Kansas City, MO 64129
http://fca.org
fca@fca.org

This release was published on openPR.