Flash Points:

• SFU Football Head Coach Chris Villarrial was named ECAC FCS Coach of the Year.
• He will be presented with the award at the ECAC Banquet on Thursday at MetLife Stadium.
• Villarrial led the Red Flash to its first ever NEC Regular Season Title and the program's first FCS Playoffs Bid.
• Villarrial coached 10 All-NEC selections, including three All-America honorees, this season.

LORETTO, Pa. – Saint Francis football Head Coach Chris Villarrial has been named the ECAC FCS Coach of the Year.  Villarrial will be presented with the award on Thursday night at the ECAC Awards Banquet at MetLife Stadium.  Villarrial earns the award after winning back-to-back NEC Coach of the Year honors.
 
Villarrial led the Red Flash to a 7-5 record, its first ever NEC Regular Season Title and the program's first FCS Playoffs bid.  Saint Francis went 5-1 in NEC play to capture its first conference title since becoming a Division I program in 1996.  SFU earned the league's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs, where it met Villanova in the First Round.
 
Villarrial has led Saint Francis to the program's first back-to-back winning seasons since 1991-92.  Saint Francis also went 4-0 at home in 2016 and currently holds a nine-game home win streak, beginning in the 2015 season.
 
Following the 2016 season, Villarrial was named a finalist for the STATS FCS National Coach of the Year award for the second straight season.
 
With 31 career wins at Saint Francis, Villarrial is already second all-time in school history, trailing only Art Martynuska's 46 wins from 1969-79 and 1981. 
 
Villarrial coached 10 All-NEC selections this season, including All-America selections safety/returner Lorenzo Jerome (Sunrise, Fla./J.P. Taravella), linebacker Solomon Leaeno (Kapolei, Hawaii/James Campbell) and receiver Kamron Lewis (Fresno, Calif./Edison).  Jerome was named All-America by Athlon Sports, the Associated Press, College Sports Madness, HERO Sports, STATS FCS and the Walter Camp Foundation. 
 
Lewis was selected All-America by the Associated Press, College Sports Madness, HERO Sports, HERO Sports Sophomore All-America and STATS FCS.  Leaeno was an All-America selection by HERO Sports.
 
Jerome has enjoyed a very successful postseason, which includes invites to the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, Senior Bowl and NFL Combine, becoming the first player in SFU and NEC history to receive invites to those events.  Jerome was named MVP of the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl after recording two interceptions and followed that up with two interceptions and a forced fumble in the Senior Bowl.  He will participate in the NFL Combine starting next week in Indianapolis.
 
Jerome is looking to become the first Saint Francis player selected in the NFL Draft since 1944 and the first to play in an NFL game since 1952.
 
Senior kicker Lance Geesey (Harrisburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) played in the FCS National Bowl and Dream Bowl V.  He was named Special Teams MVP of Dream Bowl V after going 5-for-5 on PAT attempts and hitting a 40-yard field goal as he set the game's scoring record.
 
Jerome became the NEC's first ever four-time First Team All-Conference selection after he received First Team accolades as a defensive back and return specialist this year and Lewis was named the NEC's Offensive Player of the Year.
 
Joining those two as First Team All-NEC selections were Leaeno, running back Marcus Bagley (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights), center Jimmy Marks (Middletown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), left guard Samuel Freireich (Austin, Texas/Westlake) and nose tackle Wesley Nagaseu (Waipahu, Hawaii/Waipahu).  Cornerback Malik Duncan (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Central Catholic) and safety Delondo Boyd (Indian Head, Md./Henry E. Lackey) were Second Team All-NEC selections.
 
In addition to Villarrial's ECAC honor, Jerome, Lewis and Leaeno were all named ECAC All-Stars.