Get our free mobile app

Among the 20 finalists for the Football Championship Subdivision Eddie Robinson Award of 2023 are both South Dakota and South Dakota State skippers.

The FCS has honored South Dakota State head coach Jimmy Rogers and South Dakota head coach Bob Nielson as Coach of the Year finalists. The award is presented by FedEx Ground and given annually by Stats Perform to the national coach of the year in Division I FCS college football.

SDSU Facebook

Jimmy Rogers

Rogers has guided the Jackrabbits to an 11-0 record and the top seed in the upcoming Football Championship Subdivision playoffs during his first season as head coach. SDSU has maintained the No. 1 ranking in both the Stats Perform media and AFCA coaches' rankings throughout the entire 2023 regular season, defeating six top-25 opponents en route to its second consecutive Missouri Valley Football Conference title.

USD Facebook

Bob Nielson

Nielson has orchestrated the best turnaround in FCS football this season. He took a Coyote team picked to finish ninth in its own conference to the No. 3 overall seed in this week's FCS playoffs. It is the first top-eight seed in program history. The Coyotes' No. 3 ranking in this week's polls is their highest at the FCS level.

The full list of finalists:
Mark Ferrante, Villanova
Greg Gattuso, Albany
Bobby Hauck, Montana
Clay Hendrix, Furman
Tre Lamb, Gardner-Webb
Tim Murphy, Harvard
Bob Nielson, South Dakota
Trei Oliver, North Carolina Central
Tim Rebowe, Nicholls
Danny Rocco, Virginia Military Institute
Jimmy Rogers, South Dakota State
Pete Rossomando, Lamar
Jerry Schmitt, Duquesne
Larry Scott, Howard
Willie Simmons, Florida A&M
Todd Stepsis, Drake
John Troxell, Lafayette
Scotty Walden, Austin Peay
Todd Whitten, Tarleton
Chris Wilkerson, Eastern Illinois

The Eddie Robinson Award, which was first presented in 1987, is named in honor of the legendary Grambling State coach.

The winner of the 2023 edition of the award will be selected by a national voting panel and will be announced on December 7 and honored at the FCS National Awards Banquet on January 6 in Frisco, Texas — the eve of the FCS championship game.

Ten Most Iconic Uniforms in College Sports

From Frybread to Pheasants - Here are South Dakota's Official State Things

Every state in our nation has chosen things that represent the state in one way or another to be official state things. Like a flower, or animal. South Dakota is no different.

The Mount Rushmore has a state flower. But did you know we also have a state tree and a state fish? Yes, we even have a state code.

Here is what we have so far in Wyoming. Thanks to the South Dakota Secretary of State's Office for the info: