For the second-straight year the Black Coaches & Administrators (BCA) has named Virginia head football coach Mike London as its Male Coach of the Year. It honored the first-year UVa coach Tuesday afternoon at a faculty/dean student-athlete luncheon on the campus of Brown University, where he was presented with the Fritz Pollard Award.
The BCA Coach of the Year Award is named in honor of Frederick "Fritz" Pollard, Brown Class of 1919, one of our nation's true African-American pioneers, and one of the greatest football players in Brown history. Pollard is recognized as the first African-American to play in the Rose Bowl, to earn All-American honors, to play quarterback at the professional level, and become a head coach in the NFL. Pollard was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
Recipients of the award were nominated and selected by the BCA based on the following criteria; team success during the most recent season, team improvement from previous season, fulfillment of team potential and professional manner and attitude.
London is coming off a season where he went 11-2 at Richmond in 2009 with an appearance in the FCS Quarterfinals. After two successful seasons at Richmond where he accumulated a 24-5 record, London was called upon to takeover the football program at Virginia, a place he spent six seasons as an assistant coach.
London also received the BCS Coach of the Year award last year after leading Richmond to the school's first-ever NCAA Championship in 2008. London was the first African-American to lead his team to the FCS National Championship game in 30 years - when Florida A&M head coach Rudy Hubbard won the inaugural FCS (then I-AA) title.
London makes his Virginia head-coaching debut on Sept. 4 against Richmond at Scott Stadium.