WACO, TEX. (12/7/11) — The University of Montana’s Trumaine Johnson and Caleb McSurdy have been named to the prestigious 2011 AFCA Football Championship Subdivision Coaches’ All-America Team announced today by the American Football Coaches Association.
The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions. What makes these teams so special is that they are the only ones chosen exclusively by the men who know the players the best — the coaches themselves.
Johnson, a 6-3, 210-pound senior cornerback from Stockton, Calif., was also named to the AFCA’s 2010 All-American team. A three-time first team All-Big Sky Conference selection, Johnson is Montana’s seventh leading tackler with 44 stops, and has a team-high 11 pass deflections.
A rare four-year starter at cornerback, Johnson has 43 career starts. He has 14 career pass interceptions, which ranks him fourth in school history. Montana’s Johnson and Massachusetts’ Tyler Holmes are the only repeat selections on the AFCA All-American team. Linebackers Gary Reasons of Northwestern State (La.) (1981-83) and Dexter Coakley of Appalachian State (1994-96) are the only three-time AFCA All-Americans in the FCS.
A 6-1, 242-pound senior linebacker from Boise, Idaho, McSurdy was named the Big Sky’s “Defensive Player of the Year” this season. He has a team-high 117 tackles for the fifth-ranked Grizzlies, along with 7.5 stops for loss and three sacks.
UM’s defensive team captain, McSurdy has had 11 or more tackles in six of 12 games this season, including a career-high tying 17 stops in a win against Cal Poly. He also has one interception, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. He has played in 53 career games and is ranked 13th in school history with 279 career tackles.
This year, four schools had two representatives each on the squad. Joining Mont6ana’s McSurdy and Johnson are Eastern Washington’s Nicholas Edwards (WR) and Bo Levi Mitchell (QB), Sam Houston State’s Tim Flanders (RB) and Darnell Taylor (DB), Furman’s Kadarron Anderson (LB) and Ryan Steed (DB), who were all named to the 2011 FCS All-America Team.
Eastern Kentucky has been represented a total of 23 times by 21 players on the AFCA FCS Coaches’ All-America Team since 1979, and is followed by Appalachian State (23/17), Montana (21/20), Delaware (20/17), Furman (18/17), Northern Iowa (17/14), Georgia Southern (17/13), and Eastern Washington (16/15) among current FCS schools.
The Colonial Athletic Association (formerly Atlantic 10) (117 appearances/107 players) is tops among all FCS conferences on the AFCA FCS Coaches All-America Team since 1979. Following the CAA is the Southern (104 appearances/91 players), Missouri Valley Football (formerly Gateway) (79/73), and Big Sky (78/76) from current conference members.
A 2011 conference-by-conference breakdown: Big Sky – 8; Missouri Valley Football – 4; Southern – 4; Colonial Athletic – 3; Big South – 2; Patriot – 2; Southland – 2.
Dave Guffey
The University of Montana
Associate A.D., For External and Media Relations
Hoyt Athletic Complex
32 Campus Drive
Missoula, MT 59812
406-243-5402-Office; 370-9435-Cell; 243-6859-Fax
guffeydb@mso.umt.edu
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