Valdosta State head football coach Tremaine Jacksonwas named American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) National Division II Coach of the Year, the organization announced Monday.  
 
Jackson became the 12th Gulf South Conference recipient to be recognized with AFCA National Coach of the Year honors, and the first from the conference since West Florida's Pete Shinnick in 2017. He is also the third Blazer head coach to be recognized following Chris Hatcher (2004) and David Dean (2007 and 2012). 

AFCA OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
 

AFCA NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR 1986     Chan Galley, Troy State 1987     Rick Rhoades, Troy State 1989     John M. Williams, Mississippi Coll. 1992     Bill Burgess, Jacksonville State 1993     Bobby Wallace, North Alabama 1994     Bobby Wallace, North Alabama 1995     Bobby Wallace, North Alabama 2004     Chris Hatcher, Valdosta State 2007     David Dean, Valdosta State 2012     David Dean, Valdosta State 2017     Pete Shinnick, West Florida 2024     Tremaine Jackson, Valdosta State

This season, Jackson has guided the Blazers to the NCAA Division II National Championship Game for the seventh time in program history when they battle Ferris State on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. ET at McKinney ISD Stadium in McKinney, Texas.  The Blazers are seeking their fifth national title in football and tenth overall national championship as an athletic program. This will be the third meeting between VSU and Ferris State in the national championship game since 2018.  

In three seasons at Valdosta State, Jackson has a 30-8 record, guiding the Blazers to a 13-0 record this season and the program's 11th Gulf South Conference title with a 6-0 mark. Including two seasons as head coach at Colorado Mesa, Jackson has a career record of 40-11 in five seasons. Among NCAA Division II active head coaches, Jackson is 50th in career wins and fifth-overall in career win percentage (.784).
 
Along with Jackson, Indiana's Curt Cignetti (FBS), Stony Brook's Billy Cosh (FCS), Salisbury's Sherman Wood (Division III) and Keiser's Myles Russ (NAIA) earned the honor from the other levels of collegiate football.  
 
The winners are selected by a vote of the Active AFCA members at four-year schools in the Association's five divisions. The AFCA has named a Coach of the Year since 1935. The AFCA Coach of the Year award is the oldest and most prestigious of all the Coach of the Year awards and is the only one chosen exclusively by coaches.