Senior left tackle DJ Coker has been named an American Football Coaches Association All-American, becoming the first Lynx to earn All-American honors by the AFCA in back-to-back seasons.
The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945, and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions. The teams are chosen exclusively by the men who know the players the best-- the coaches themselves.
Coker, a Buford, GA, native who attended Greater Atlanta Christian School, has been named to the DIII AFCA Coaches All-America first team. He is one of eight student-athletes of the 50 DIII All-Americans to earn the prestigious honor for the second year in a row. Coker is the only player on the offensive side of the ball in the Southern Athletic Association to be recognized.
This season, Coker was named first team All-SAA and earned D3football.com’s first team All-South Region honors for the Lynx. Last year, he garnered first team All-SAA honors, third team D3football.com All-South Region honors, and second team AFCA All-America honors. Rhodes averaged 185.8 rushing yards per game and 430.4 total yards of offense per game during Coker's final two seasons as a Lynx.
Coker joins two other Rhodes AFCA All-Americans: Punt kicker Jim Hever ’85 and offensive lineman Larry Hayes ’88.
The AFCA's Division III All-America Selection Committee is made up of three head coaches from each of the AFCA's eight districts, one of whom serves as a district chairman, along with another head coach who serves as the chairman of the selection committee. The coaches in each district are responsible for ranking the top players in their respective districts prior to a conference call between the district chairmen and the committee chairman on which the team is chosen.