By MONTE DUTTON

The Football Championship Subdivision, the lower tier of NCAA Division I, named Presbyterian College’s Steve Englehart as one of five district winners of the American Football Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year race.

Earlier this week, Englehart, 48, was named as one of the 15 finalists for the Stats Perform Eddie Robinson Award, another incarnation of FCS Coach of the Year.

Englehart deserves the awards, but they will probably go to some sissy from a school that gives scholarships. Englehart drives a stick; most of them are on cruise control.

The Blue Hose came out of the box with victories over Mercer (9-1), ranked seventh, and Furman (6-6). They finished second in the Pioneer Football League, and Englehart, in a mere four years at the PC helm, led teams that finished, in order, 1-10, 4-7, 6-6 and 10-2. The Blue Hose gave gone from 10 losses to 10 wins.

The national awards will probably go to one of those captains of the Upper Midwest, where the states’ biggest schools are in FCS. Presbyterian, sadly, failed to make the playoffs. When Englehart arrived in Clinton, the Blue Hose couldn’t even make a play-in. The previous head coach was Kevin Kelley.

What is Englehart doing this week? Oh, each morning he hitches up his britches and goes to work. Recruit, develop and retain.

Whether Englehart is coach of the year or not, undoubtedly someone is going to notice the job he has done. Someone in a position of authority is going to take notice. Probably several. Some had forgotten that Presbyterian still has a football team. In Macon, Ga., and Greenville, they know it well. In the far-flung capitals of the PFL, from San Diego, Calif., in the west to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in the east, and DeLand, Fla., in the south, they know the story. He’s proved his mettle in Saint Paul, Minn., Indianapolis and Valparaiso, Ind., Morehead, Ky., and other trading posts serviced by interstate highways or municipal airports.

Some are probably wondering if Englehart can lead players whose way through college is paid. I’ve seen his teams play ever since he got here. The notion makes me laugh. Dr. Seuss could write his bio (well, if Theodor Seuss Geisel were still alive).

He could coach ‘em on the roof. He could coach ‘em in a booth. He could coach ‘em in a car. It wouldn’t matter where they are.

Florida Tech once dropped his football program. When he took the job at Presbyterian, it was the end of the line. Now the program is perched on a mountain vista. The whole world is within sight.

Englehart is a unique man. Presbyterian College is a unique place. The rangy Hoosier fits it. He doesn’t seem particularly impressed with himself.

But a man’s got to listen.

Asked the inevitable question – “What’s next?” – Englehart was his usual forthright self.

Of Kelley, Englehart said, “It can be done. He didn’t stay here long enough to find out. I could have left after a year, and everyone would have said I was a dud, too.

“You keep moving. Even though this (a 29-25 victory over Marist) was the last game of the year. … Now we go right back to work and build a team for next year to continue to build on the legacy that these seniors left. … You always talk about how fast it goes, but there was a time in the middle of the season when I thought it was going really slow because we were just so excited about getting back to Saturday and competing because we were feeling that kind of energy.”

A man works tirelessly his whole life, and all of a sudden, he’s an overnight sensation. When others call, Englehart is going to listen, but he knows what he’s got, where it’s been and what it’s got left to do.

Bigger isn’t always best, but it’s always bigger.

The Laurens County Touchdown Club has chosen 14 Players of the Week. Seven times the recipient has played for Laurens Academy (9-3), which advanced to the eight-man state finals for the second year in a row.

Clinton (9-4) won it five times and Laurens (1-9) two. The Crusaders’ junior quarterback, Ethan Collins, won the last two. Caleb Hardy and Clinton’s Javen Cook each won the award, presented by S.C. Farm Bureau Insurance, three times. The other winners were Jaydon Glenn and Kynius Williams of the Red Devils, Logan Bragg and Nehemias Fernandez of the Raiders and Nathan Bell and Garrison Vaughan of the Crusaders.

W.W. King Academy of Batesburg handed LA all three of its losses, winning the state final in Greenwood, 50-36. It was a similar story in 2024, only the team that defeated the Crusaders three times was Richard Winn, and LA defeated the Eagles three times this year.

Collins led the Crusaders in the state championship game. He had 198 yards rushing on 23 carries with two touchdowns. Collins rushed for two two-point conversions, as well.  He also passed for 128 yards with one touchdown and a conversion pass.

 “Ethan played his very best football down the stretch. He gave us an opportunity to win the state championship. As I have said before, he is everything you want in a QB.  Every intangible he has becomes tangible for our team. His faith, his focus and his fearlessness [are] admired by the whole team.”

 The TD Club will honor Collins on Jan. 7 at its annual banquet. The featured speaker is former head coach Buddy Pough of South Carolina State. The TD Club will announce its all-county team as well as Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and the Lakelands Fellowship of Christian Athletes Character award winners from each high school and Presbyterian College.

Presbyterian quarterback Collin Hurst is one of 30 finalists for the Walter Payton Award as FCS player of the year. Payton, one of the NFL’s greatest running backs, starred in college at Jackson State.

A redshirt sophomore from Davie, Fla., Hurst completed 197/289 passes for 2,684 yard and 26 touchdowns. He is 16-5 as a starting quarterback over two seasons, during which he has thrown for at least one touchdown in 13 straight games.

Back from California and losses to Sacramento State (64-62), California (67-57) and UCLA (86-46), Presbyterian (3-5) returns to Templeton Center on Wednesday at 1 p.m. to play Columbia International (5-4) in men’s basketball.

On Friday afternoon at 1:30, the Blue Hose women (2-5) take on Seattle (2-4) in Florida International’s Thanksgiving Classic in Miami. PC takes on either FIU or Maryland Baltimore County on Sunday.

For years, my site has been supported by reader contributions. If you’re interested, you can make modest monthly payments on my Patreon page or a one-time contribution via Venmo (@DHKSports).

Or, if you’d like to make a contribution by check or cash, my mailing address, for now, is: Monte Dutton, 11185 Hwy. 56 N., Clinton, S.C.  29325.

Every little bit helps. It keeps gas in the truck for road trips.

Most of my books are available at Amazon.