Dallas, Texas -- CCU Director of Athletics Warren "Moose" Koegel was named the AstroTurf Southeast Region FCS AD of the Year as presented by The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), the organization announced today.
Koegel is in his eighth year as the director of athletics at Coastal Carolina University. In Koegel’s years at the helm, Coastal Carolina sports have had teams or individuals advance to NCAA Championships 45 times. Coastal Carolina also has won the prestigious George F. "Buddy" Sasser Cup five times, awarded annually to the top athletics department in the Big South Conference. In addition, during the 2006-07 year, Coastal’s almost 400 student-athletes combined for just over a 3.0 grade point average.
Currently a member of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Selection Committee, Koegel also played a crucial role in the addition of football to the Coastal Carolina athletics department, a program that captured the 2004 Big South title, in just its second year of competition. In five years of play, the football program has amassed a 39-17 record, three Big South championships and the league’s first-ever berth in the NCAA Division I Football Championships in 2006. The Chanticleers have also seen numerous athletics facility upgrades under Koegel, including a 6,408-seat state-of-the-art stadium in 2003. In 2006, the stadium expanded by almost 1,000 seats. The program will undergo additional improvements in the near future with a new fieldhouse with football offices, locker room and meeting rooms, along with a weight room for all student-athletes and 2,100-seat expansion in Brooks Stadium. The football program has also produced more than a dozen All-Americans and two players currently on National Football League rosters, with a third drafted in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft and a fourth signing a free agent contract for this year.
Koegel came to Coastal Carolina from the University of Tennessee Chattanoga, where he had served as an associate athletics director and also served on the steering committee for the NCAA I-AA National Championship Football Game. Prior to that, Koegel had been an assistant football coach at the University of Wyoming, Rutgers University and the University of Connecticut.
There are four geographic regions - northeast, southeast, central and west; while the membership is separated into seven categories - Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A); Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA); Division I (formerly Division I-AAA); Division II; Division III; NAIA; and Junior/Community Colleges. One winner was selected in each of the seven categories, for a total of 29 honorees. Winners will receive their awards during the James J. Corbett Awards Luncheon at NACDA's 43rd Annual Convention at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas.
NACDA Executive Director Mike Cleary explains the ADOY Award is essential because it highlights the efforts of athletics directors at all levels for their commitment and positive contributions to campuses and their surrounding communities.
"Our Honors and Awards Committee recognized a need for an award such as the AD of the Year," said Cleary, who oversaw implementation of the program to allow all NACDA Officers and Honors and Awards Committee members to participate in the awards process, should they be elected. "The program brings to light the exceptional jobs done by athletics directors across the country. These 29 winners exemplify that, providing us with a group of outstanding athletics directors who excel at their jobs."
