WACO, Texas – For the second time as the leader of the Red Raider football program, Northwestern College head football coach Matt McCarty has been named the Region IV Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) within the five regions of the NAIA.
McCarty is winning the honor outright for the first time in his career after leading Northwestern to a 12-1 season going into the National Championship. It’s the program’s second trip in three seasons to the national championship game.
Entering the final game of the 2022 season, the Red Raiders lead the NAIA in rushing touchdowns (42), third down conversions (54%), red zone touchdowns (52). Additionally, NWC sits top-5 in the following categories: yards per game (2nd), passing touchdowns (2nd), yards per rush (2nd), PATs (2nd), points per game (3rd), first downs per game (3rd), and defensive touchdowns (5th).
In his seventh season leading the football program, McCarty has compiled an overall record of 66-18 and 52-11 in Great Plains Athletic Conference play. He has posted a record of 9-5 in NAIA Football Championship Series games.
He won the honor in a co-Coach of the year capacity back in 2017, along with Morningside’s Steve Ryan, leading the Raiders to a 10-2 (7-1 GPAC) record that year with a trip to the NAIA FCS Quarterfinal round in just his second season as head coach.
Across all levels of football that the AFCA gives awards, McCarty is one of eight coaches to earn the honor multiple times in the 2022 class. At the NAIA level, he joins just Joe Woodley of Grand View University. The national coaches of the year will be announced on January 9th by the AFCA. All Region Coaches of the Year are finalists for the National Coach of the Year award.
The Raiders will compete for their second national title under McCarty on Saturday, December 17th in Durham, N.C. against Keiser University (Fla.). Northwestern will look to bring back the program’s third national title and first since the 1983 season. The NAIA has announced a kickoff time change for the 2022 NAIA National Championship game due to technology issues at the stadium. The new kickoff time is slated for 11:00 a.m. central time.
The game will still be played at Durham County Memorial Stadium in Durham, N.C. The time change due to a lighting issue at the stadium and to avoid issues with the night game, the NAIA made the decision to move up the game time to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday December 17th.
