CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Southern Illinois University's Jerry Kill Thursday was named Division I-AA Coach of the Year.
He received the Eddie Robinson Award, given to the winner at the annual awards banquet in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Kill guided the Salukis to a 10-2 record in 2004 and the title of the Gateway Conference.
SIU was a perfect 9-0 against I-AA opponents and outscored competitors by more than 30 points per game. The school earned the No. 1 ranking for the final 10 weeks of the year, and garnered the No. 1 seed in the 2004 playoffs.
Kill is the second coach from a Gateway Conference school to win the award, and first since Youngstown State's Jim Tressel won it in 1994.
It is the first major I-AA award of any kind for Southern Illinois.
The honor is named after the legendary coach at Grambling University, Eddie Robinson, who retired in 1997 after 56 years at the school.