FieldTurf names Tjeerdsma D2 Coach of the Year

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Coach Mel Tjeerdsma

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- FieldTurf and football broadcasting personality Howie Long recently announced the selection of Northwest head football coach Mel Tjeerdsma as the 2007 Division II Coach of the Year during the American Football Coaches Convention.

Tjeerdsma led the Bearcats to a 12-2 record, a third straight national championship appearance and the team’s seventh MIAA title in 12 seasons. Northwest was 9-0 in league play for the seventh time in the last 11 years.

Four Bearcat players were named All-Americans this season, and 10 have earned all-region honors. The Bearcats swept the MIAA awards, and Tjeerdsma was named the league’s Coach of the Year for the ninth time.

Xavier Omon and Jared Erspamer were the MIAA’s Most Valuable Offensive and Defensive Players, respectively.

In addition to excelling on the field, Coach Tjeerdsma’s Bearcats got it done in the classroom. Seventeen student-athletes were named to the Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll, and four earned Academic All-District honors.

Tjeerdsma earned career win No. 200 in the team’s regular season finale, joining Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel and Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer as active NCAA coaches who reached the 200-win milestone this season.

In 1994, Tjeerdsma took over a program that was winless in his first season. Two years later, the Bearcats were MIAA champions, and Northwest won the first of two consecutive national titles in 1998.

The Bearcats have played for the national championship in five of Tjeerdsma’s 14 seasons.

FieldTurf Tarkett is a major producer of sports surfacing products and services.

For more information, please contact:

Bryan Boettcher
Athletic Media Relations Director/Sports Information
Northwest Missouri State University
Office: 660.562.1118

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