Coach Harasymiak named finalist for national award, media report
The Portland Press Herald, Bangor Daily News and 92.9 FM The Ticket reported University of Maine head football coach Joe Harasymiak has been named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, given annually to the national coach of the year in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. Harasymiak, in his third year at the helm of the Black Bears, guided UMaine to its first outright Colonial Athletic Association championship since 2013. After being selected eighth in the CAA preseason poll, the team posted an 8-3 overall record and 7-1 league record, the BDN reported. The Eddie Robinson Award will be presented at the STATS FCS awards banquet on Jan. 4 in Frisco, Texas, site of the national championship game. Fifteen coaches were named finalists on Monday, according to the reports. “It is extremely humbling to be in the same conversation as all of these great coaches,” Harasymiak said. “The only reason this happened is because of the great coaches and players I get to be around every day.” In addition, UMaine senior linebacker Sterling Sheffield was named one of 25 finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award given to the best defensive player in the FCS ranks, the BDN article states. The Sun Journal also published the Press Herald article.