HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana University quarterback Cole Kelley continues to add to his list of postseason accolades with two more All-American selections on Wednesday.
Kelley was named to the first team on both the American Football Coaches Association and Athlon Sports All-America teams. The SLU senior was previously named first team by Stats Perform and the Associated Press and third team by HERO Sports.
The reigning Walter Payton Award winner and one of the top three vote-getters invited to the Jan. 7 presentation of the award this season, Kelley posted one of the finest statistical seasons in the history of the FCS this fall. The Lafayette, Louisiana native threw for 5,124 yards and 44 touchdowns on 406-for-552 passing (73.6 completion percentage), while also rushing for a team-high 491 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Kelley leads FCS in passing yards, total offense, completion percentage and points responsible for, as his 60 total touchdowns (44 passing, 16 rushing) were one off the single-season FCS record set by Willie Totten in 1984. The Southland Conference Player of the Year’s single-season totals for passing yards (2nd), total offense (5,615 yards, 3rd) and passing touchdowns (10th) were all among the best performances in the history of FCS football.
Kelley’s 72.1 career completion percentage (685-for-950) during his time at Southeastern is a new FCS standard (minimum 750 pass attempts). In 33 games donning the green and gold, Kelley set new program career records with 8,602 passing yards, 9,339 yards of total offense, 70 passing touchdowns, 33 rushing touchdowns and 105 touchdowns responsible for (70 passing, 33 rushing, two receiving).
2021 AFCA Football Championship Subdivision Coaches’ All-America Team
First Team
Offense
Pos. – Name – Ht. – Wt. – Cl. – School – Coach – Hometown
QB – Cole Kelley – 6-7 – 260 – Sr. – Southeastern – Frank Scelfo – Lafayette, La.
RB – Quay Holmes – 6-1 – 220 – Jr. – ETSU – Randy Sanders – Power Springs, Ga.
RB – Pierre Strong Jr. – 5-11 – 205 – Sr. – South Dakota State – John Stiegelmeier – Little Rock, Ark.
WR – Xavier Gipson – 5-9 – 170 – So. – Stephen F. Austin – Colby Carthel – Dallas, Texas
WR – BJ Byrd – 6-0 – 190 – Sr. – Morehead State – Rob Tenyer – Lawrenceville, Ga.
TE – Kemari Averett – 6-6 – 260 – Sr. – Bethune-Cookman – Terry Sims – Atlanta, Ga.
OL – Lewis Kidd – 6-6 – 311 – Sr. – Montana State – Brent Vigen – Minneapolis, Minn.
OL – P.J. Burkhalter – 6-3 – 330 – Sr. – Nicholls – Tim Rebowe – Franklinton, La.
OL – Cole Strange – 6-6 – 301 – Sr. – Chattanooga – Rusty Wright – Knoxville, Tenn.
OL – Cordell Volson – 6-7 – 313 – Sr. – North Dakota State – Matt Entz – Balfour, N.D.
OL – Trevor Penning – 6-7 – 321 – Jr. – Northern Iowa – Mark Farley – Clear Lake, Iowa
Defense
Pos. – Name – Ht. – Wt. – Cl. – School – Coach – Hometown
DL – James Houston – 6-1 – 225 – Sr. – Jackson State – Deion Sanders – Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
DL – Isaiah Chambers – 6-5 – 251 – Gr. – McNeese – Frank Wilson – Houston, Texas
DL – Vaughn Taylor Jr. – 6-3 – 252 – Sr. – Morehead State – Rob Tenyer – Washington, D.C.
DL – Jared Brinkman – 6-2 – 290 – Sr. – Northern Iowa – Mark Farley – Iowa City, Iowa
LB – Isaiah Land – 6-4 – 215 – Jr. – Florida A&M – Willie Simmons – Buffalo, N.Y.
LB – Troy Anderson – 6-4 – 235 – Sr. – Montana State – Brent Vigen – Dillon, Mont.
LB – Forrest Rhyne – 6-1 – 235 – Gr. – Villanova – Mark Ferrante – Waynesboro, Pa.
DB – Devin Hafford – 6-1 – 210 – Sr. – Tarleton State – Todd Whitten – Atascocita, Texas
DB – Justin Ford – 6-2 – 190 – Jr. – Montana – Bobby Hauck – Concord, N.C.
DB – Koby Perry – 6-0 – 174 – Gr. – Austin Peay – Scotty Walden – Covington, Ga.
DB – Decobie Durant – 5-11 – 180 – Gr. – South Carolina State – Buddy Pough – Lamar, S.C.
Specialists
Pos. – Name – Ht. – Wt. – Cl. – School – Coach – Hometown
P – Brian Buschini – 6-0 – 206 – Fr. – Montana – Bobby Hauck – Helena, Mont.
PK – Ethan Radke – 5-10 – 186 – Sr. – James Madison – Curt Cignetti – Mechanicsville, Va.
AP – Montrell Washington – 5-10 – 170 – Sr. – Samford – Chris Hatcher – Canton, Ga.
LS – Matthew O’Donoghue – 6-1 – 260 – Sr. – Montana – Bobby Hauck – Santa Ana, Calif.
Second Team
Offense
Pos. – Name – Ht. – Wt. – Cl. – School – Coach – Hometown
QB – Eric Barriere – 6-1 – 210 – Sr. – Eastern Washington – Aaron Best – Inglewood, Calif.
RB – Ramon Jefferson – 5-10 – 215 – Jr. – Sam Houston – K.C. Keeler – Bronx, N.Y.
RB – Isaiah Ifanse – 5-10 – 202 – Jr. – Montana State – Brent Vigen – Bellevue, Wash.
WR – Dai’Jean Dixon – 6-4 – 200 – Sr. – Nicholls – Tim Rebowe – New Orleans, La.
WR – Tyler Hudson – 6-2 – 195 – So. – Central Arkansas – Nathan Brown – Spring, Texas
TE – Marshal Martin – 6-2 – 209 – So. – Sacramento State – Troy Taylor – Vallejo, Calif.
OL – Tristen Taylor – 6-6 – 320 – Sr. – Eastern Washington – Aaron Best – Stockton, Calif.
OL – Colby Thomas – 6-2 – 300 – Sr. – Sam Houston – K.C. Keeler – Manvel, Texas
OL – Braxton Jones – 6-7 – 310 – Jr. – Southern Utah – Demario Warren – Murray, Utah
OL – Hunter Nourzad – 6-4 – 298 – Sr. – Cornell – David Archer – Marietta, Ga.
OL – Matt Waletzko – 6-7 – 305 – Sr. – North Dakota – Bubba Schweigert – Cold Spring, Minn.
Defense
Pos. – Name – Ht. – Wt. – Cl. – School – Coach – Hometown
DL – Daniel Hardy – 6-3 – 240 – Sr. – Montana State – Brent Vigen – Beaverton, Ore.
DL – Bryce Carter – 6-1 – 252 – Sr. – James Madison – Curt Cignetti – Steelton, Pa.
DL – Brevin Allen – 6-4 – 265 – Sr. – Campbell – Mike Minter – Greensboro, N.C.
DL – Devonnsha Maxwell – 6-2 – 296 – Jr. – Chattanooga – Rusty Wright – Valdosta, Ga.
LB – Jacob Dobbs – 6-0 – 232 – Jr. – Holy Cross – Bob Chesney – Macomb, Mich.
LB – Patrick O’Connell – 6-2 – 225 – Jr. – Montana – Bobby Hauck – Kalispell, Mont.
LB – Stone Snyder – 6-3 – 240 – Jr. – VMI – Scott Wachenheim – Richmond, Va.
DB – Zyon McCollum – 6-4 – 200 – Sr. – Sam Houston – K.C. Keeler – Galveston, Texas
DB – Markquese Bell – 6-3 – 205 – Sr. – Florida A&M – Willie Simmons – Bridgeton, N.J.
DB – Greg Ross – 6-1 – 186 – Sr. – James Madison – Curt Cignetti – Temple Hills, Md.
DB – Davion Ross – 5-10 – 165 – Jr. – Eastern Kentucky – Walt Wells – Perry, Ga.
Specialists
Pos. – Name – Ht. – Wt. – Cl. – School – Coach – Hometown
P – Grant Burkett – 6-0 – 180 – Fr. – Missouri State – Bobby Petrino – Joplin, Mo.
PK – Matthew Cook – 5-11 – 180 – So. – Northern Iowa – Mark Farley – Cedar Falls, Iowa
AP – Rashid Shaheed – 6-0 – 180 – Sr. – Weber State – Jay Hill – San Diego, California
LS – Robert Soderholm – 6-1 – 230 – Sr. – VMI – Scott Wachenheim – Stafford, Va.
2021 Athlon Sports FCS All-America Team
Offense
QB – Cole Kelley, Southeastern
QB – Eric Barriere, Eastern Washington
RB – Quay Holmes, ETSU
RB – Pierre Strong Jr., South Dakota State
WR – Xavier Gipson, Stephen F. Austin
WR – Tyler Hudson, Central Arkansas
TE – Tucker Kraft, South Dakota State
OL – P.J. Burkhalter, Nicholls
OL – Trevor Penning, Northern Iowa
OL – Cole Strange, Chattanooga
OL – Cordell Volson, North Dakota State
OL – Nick Zakelj, Fordham
Defense
DL – Jared Brinkman, Northern Iowa
DL – Isaiah Chambers, McNeese
DL – James Houston, Jackson State
DL – Isaiah Land, Florida A&M
LB – Troy Anderson, Montana State
LB – Patrick O’Connell, Montana
LB – Forrest Rhyne, Villanova
LB – Stone Snyder, VMI
DB – Markquese Bell, Florida A&M
DB – Christian Benford, Villanova
DB – Justin Ford, Montana
DB – Darius Joiner, Western Illinois
Special Teams
PK – Ethan Ratke, James Madison
P – Brian Buschini, Montana
LS – Kyle Davis, James Madison
KR – Rashid Shaheed, Weber State
PR – Warren Newman, Jackson State
AP – Montrell Washington, Samford
TICKETS
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