CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – In his third season at the helm of the Wartburg College football team, head coach Chris Winter has been named American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Region 5 Coach of the Year. 
 
Winter has led the Knights to their second consecutive national semifinal appearance, after finishing the regular season with a perfect 10-0 overall record and 8-0 record in the A-R-C. Wartburg earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs after securing their 19th A-R-C title. This is the first AFCA Region award for Winter. In his three seasons at Wartburg College, he has posted an overall record of 33-4, while his third season is still underway. This is the first AFCA Region Coach of Year honor for Wartburg since 2017. 
 
In 13 games so far this season, the Knights have averaged 42.54 points per game and 459.2 yards of total offense while holding opponents to an average of 11.62 points per game and 261.5 total yards. 

The No. 3/3-ranked Knights are set to host No. 1/1-ranked, defending national champion, North Central College on Saturday, December 9 at 2:30 p.m. CST on ESPN+ in the national semifinals. 
 
The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association’s five divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III, and NAIA. The winners are selected by active members of the Association who vote for coaches in their respective regions and divisions. These winners will be honored on Tuesday, January 9, during the 2024 AFCA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The Regional winners in each division are finalists for National Coach of the Year. 
 
Award History: 
The AFCA began recognizing district coaches of the year following the 1960 season. The awards were established the same year Eastman Kodak agreed to sponsor the AFCA Coach of the Year award. Prior to 1960, the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain had sponsored the program, which recognized one national Coach of the Year.
The AFCA first recognized eight district winners in each of two divisions:?university and college. In 1972, a ninth district was added in each division. In 1983, the award was changed to recognize regional winners instead of district winners. The number of divisions was also increased from two to four and five regional winners were selected in each division. This resulted in a more equitable selection process and better represented the make-up of the membership. At the same time, the new system increased the number of honorees from 18 to 20. In 2006, the AFCA?Division II?Award was split into separate Division II?and NAIA divisions, giving us the 25 winners we now recognize.

Division III Honorees:
Region 1: Curt Fitzpatrick, SUNY Cortland 
Region 2: Greg Chimera, Johns Hopkins University
Region 3: Jerheme Urban, Trinity (Tex.) University
Region 4: Jason Couch, Alma College
Region 5: Chris Winter, Wartburg College