Pat Fitzgerald, Craig Bohl, Tony Samuel & John Luckhardt Named to AFCA Board of Trustees

SAN ANTONIO, Texas--Northwestern University head coach Pat Fitzgerald, North Dakota State University head coach Craig Bohl, Southeast Missouri State University head coach Tony Samuel and California (Pa.) University head coach John Luckhardt have been elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Football Coaches Association. Fitzgerald, Bohl, Samuel and Luckhardt were elected by members attending the 2012 AFCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas.

"To have the the opportunity to serve on this board with this distinguished group of men and to be elected by your peers is a tremendous honor," said Bohl. "It is the biggest honor I have received in my coaching career."

Fitzgerald, Bohl, Samuel and Luckhardt join a group of distinguished head coaches who guide the organization. The Board formulates policy and provides direction for the AFCA, which was founded in 1922 by Amos Alonzo Stagg, John Heisman and others. The AFCA has more than 11,000 members from all levels of the profession.

Returning members of the AFCA Board of Trustees include incoming president Tim Murphy of Harvard University; first vice-president Tommy Tuberville of Texas Tech University; second vice-president Mike Welch of Ithaca College and third vice-president Mack Brown of the University of Texas.

Also serving on the Board in 2012: Todd Berry, University of Louisiana-Monroe; Lee Owens, Ashland University; Jim Grobe, Wake Forest University; Bill Cronin, Georgetown College (Ky.); Frank Solich, Ohio University; Mike Riley, Oregon State University; Gary Patterson, TCU; David Bailiff, Rice University; Mark Richt, University of Georgia; Bobby Kennedy, University of Colorado, ex officio member and chairman of the Assistant Coaches Committee; Joe Taylor, Florida A&M University, ex officio member and chairman of the Minority Issues Committee and Ed Maloney, Dundee (Mich.) High School, ex officio member and chairman of the High School Program Committee. AFCA Executive Director Grant Teaff serves as secretary-treasurer of the organization.

Fitzgerald will be the Big Ten representative, Samuel will be an at-large member for Football Championship Subdivision and Luckhardt will be a second Division II representative. Bohl replaces 2011 AFCA President Rob Ash of Montana State, who completed his term on the Board this year.

Fitzgerald completed his sixth season as the head coach at Northwestern University in 2011. He led the Wildcats to a berth in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas in 2011. He has an overall record of 40-36 while also guiding the Wildcats to four straight bowl appearances, which is a school record. In 2008, Fitzgerald was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Columbus after leading Northwestern to a nine-win season and a berth in the Valero Alamo Bowl. He has served on the AFCA Ethics Committee since 2009. 

Craig Bohl completed his ninth season as the head coach at North Dakota State in 2011 with an overall record of 75-31. He led the Bison to a 14-1, the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and the program’s first Football Championship Subdivision National Championship. Bohl has guided North Dakota State to two conference championships in in nine years, and in 2010, guided the Bison to its first-ever appearance in the FCS playoffs, making it to the quarterfinals.

"This is a great opportunity for Craig to serve on this Board," said Gene Taylor, NDSU Director of Athletics. "It says a lot about the respect coaches across the country have for him and our program. This is indeed a great honor for Coach Bohl."

Tony Samuel completed his sixth season as the head coach at Southeast Missouri State University. In 2010, he led the Redhawks to a 9-3 record and the program’s first-ever conference title and NCAA Playoff appearance in the 104-year history of their program. For his efforts in 2010, Samuel was named AFCA Regional Coach of the Year, the Sports Network Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, Fritz Pollard and the Roy Kidd OVC Coach of the Year. Samuel also spent eight years as the head coach at New Mexico State, and is the third winningest coach in Aggies history with 34 victories. 

In his 10 seasons as head coach at California (Pa.), John Luckhardt has a record of 88-33 and guided the Vulcans to three NCAA Regional Championships, two appearances in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship Game and sven PSAC West titles. Prior to his stop at California (Pa.), Luckhardt was the head coach at Washington & Jefferson for 17 seasons, compiling a 137-37-2 record with 13 Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) titles, 11 appearances in the NCAA Playoffs and two appearances in the Division III National Championship.