Wednesday, May 14, 2003

MORAVIAN’S PUKSZYN HONORED AS AN AFLAC NATIONAL
ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR

COLUMBUS, GA --- Moravian College assistant head football coach Jeff Pukszyn has been selected as one of 500 high school and college assistant coaches from a field of more then 350,000 across the nation as a winner of the second annual AFLAC National Assistant Coaches of the Year Award.

A panel of judges from Scholastic Coach & Athletic Director magazine, the nation’s leading publication for the team athletic marketplace, made selections. The winners, men and women involved in virtually every major team sport, hail from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The selections were based on nominations made by head coaches, athletic administrators, past and current student-athletes, fans and board members themselves. Each winner received two plaques, one each for the individual and the school. Pukszyn was presented his award Wednesday evening at Moravian’s Senior Athletic Awards Banquet by a member of AFLAC, one of the nation’s leading providers of insurance at the worksite.

The criteria in the second annual AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year program allowed for coaches to win based on longevity, expertise, contributions to the school and community, and special achievements throughout their career.

Pukszyn is a 1997 graduate of Moravian College, and he has completed six years on the football coaching staff. In addition to his duties as assistant head coach, Pukszyn has been Moravian’s defensive coordinator for the last three seasons. The Greyhounds, who finished the 2002 season at 7-4, were 20th in the country in rushing defense, only allowing 93.9 yards per contest on the ground (1,033 yards on 400 carries), and the squad was tied for 39th in scoring defense, allowing just 16.4 points per game (180 points in 11 games). Moravian, which had a six-game winning streak during the season, participated in the 2002 Eastern College Athletic Conference Southeast Championship game, losing to McDaniel College, 21-7. The postseason appearance was the school’s first-ever berth in the ECAC Championships.

“AFLAC is pleased to sponsor the AFLAC National Assistant Coach of the Year program,” said Joe Kuechenmeister, AFLAC senior vice president. “Assistant coaches are the unsung heroes of American sport. So many of us were positively affected by our participation in sports that we wanted to pay tribute to these hard-working, under-recognized coaches who do so much to improve the young people they work with. As a result, they make a major impact in the communities they serve as well.”

“It was heart warming to read the stories of so many of the winners who were nominated by their head coaches, their athletic directors, their players and, in at least a couple of cases, by their own children-who played for their mothers and fathers.”

“We were extremely impressed with the quality of the nominees,” said Bruce Weber, publisher of Scholastic Coach & Athletic Director. “The majority of the nominations were prepared in great detail. The nominators obviously felt very deeply about the assistant coaches they were recommending. It was also amazing to learn how many of these coaches had been on the job for 30 years or longer.”