NASHVILLE --- Tusculum College's Frankie DeBusk was recognized as the American Football Coaches Association's Division II Region 2 Coach of the Year at the 2008 AFCA Convention earlier this week at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville.

DeBusk was one of 28 coaches honored, representing the five AFCA classifications of college football: Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), NCAA Division II (DII), NCAA Division III (DIII) and NAIA.

This year's list included some impressive names including Mike Leach of Texas Tech and Houston Nutt of Ole Miss

DeBusk, who has wrapped up his 11th season in Greeneville, led the Pioneers to one of the program's most successful campaigns. Tusculum posted a 9-4 record while capturing its second South Atlantic Conference championship in the last five years. TC won four of its last five outings and earned the school's first-ever trip to the NCAA Football Playoffs.

Tusculum clinched a share of the SAC title with a thrilling 45-44 win over nationally-ranked Carson-Newman in the regular season finale. The following week, the Pioneers played in its first NCAA Playoff game, hosting Albany State University. Tusculum rallied from a 10-point deficit to post a 34-22 win over the Golden Rams. TC's postseason run ended in the regional semifinal with a 28-19 road loss at top-seeded Delta State University.

Tusculum broke or tied over 44 team and individual records, including most wins in a season. For his efforts, he was also named SAC Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.

The Greeneville, Tenn. native has compiled a 68-52 record, making him the winningest gridiron coach in school history and fourth most successful football mentor in SAC history. His Pioneers have posted a 61-36 mark over the last nine years, resulting in three straight winning campaigns. Tusculum has recorded a winning season in seven of the last eight years.

He led TC to a 9-2 record in 2003 while claiming its first-ever SAC championship. Prior to coming to Tusculum, DeBusk served as an assistant coach at the University of Chattanooga for five seasons (1993-97). He also spent two years on the Furman University staff (1991-92). The 1991 Furman graduate was a two-time All-Southern Conference quarterback, where he led the Paladins to a NCAA I-AA National Championship in 1988. DeBusk still holds several Paladin single-season and career records and was inducted into his alma mater's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.

DeBusk is also in his second year serving as Tusculum's athletic director.

- TC -

2008 AFCA Regional Coach of the Year Winners
Coach, School Class.-Region
Brian Kelly, Cincinnati FBS Region 1
Houston Nutt, Mississippi FBS Region 2
Brady Hoke, Ball State FBS Region 3
Mike Leach, Texas Tech FBS Region 4
Mike Reilly, Oregon State FBS Region 5
Andy Talley, Villanova FCS Region 1
Jerry Moore, Appalachian State FCS Region 2
Henry Frazier, Prairie View A&M FCS Region 3
Dale Lennon, Southern Illinois FCS Region 4
Clint Conque, Central Arkansas FCS Region 5
Danny Hale, Bloomsburg DII Region 1
John Luckhardt, California (Pa.) DII Region 1
Frankie DeBusk, Tusculum DII Region 2
Mel Tjeerdsma, Northwest Missouri DII Region 3
Chris Thomsen, Abilene Christian DII Region 4
Dan McLaughlin, Wayne State (Neb.) DII Region 5
Mike Wel