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Mountaineers’ Nehlen Named Coach of Year

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From Associated Press

Don Nehlen, who led West Virginia to the first perfect regular season in its 96-year football history, was named major college Coach of the Year today by the American Football Coaches Assn.

The Mountaineers compiled an 11-0 record and a No. 3 national ranking before losing to national champion Notre Dame 34-21 in the Fiesta Bowl. They finished fifth in The Associated Press poll.

Nehlen and the three other division Coach of the Year winners--Jimmy Satterfield of Furman, Rocky Hager of North Dakota State and Jim Butterfield of Ithaca--are to be honored tonight at the annual Kodak-AFCA Coach-of-the-Year banquet.

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Beat Notre Dame’s Holtz

Nehlen won out in Division I-A over regional winners Curley Hallman of Southern Mississippi, Lou Holtz of Notre Dame, Ken Hatfield of Arkansas and Paul Roach of Wyoming.

Satterfield, Hager and Butterfield were not among the five regional winners in their divisions but won out in voting at the AFCA’s annual convention in Nashville. All coached their teams to national championships.

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