AFCA Division III Coaches' All-American Teams
REDLANDS, Calif. – Star University of Redlands punter Vicente Garcia (Fontana, CA) continues to haul in the postseason accolades.
After being named 2nd Team All-SCIAC and 2nd Team All-West Region (d3football.com), Garcia was again honored Tuesday morning as a First Team All-American by the AFCA Division III Coaches' Committee.
Garcia joins Ben Cooney, Defensive Back from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps as the only two representatives from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).
The junior place kicker is coming off a career season where he totaled 42 punts for 1,915 yards with a long being for 69-yards. Out of those 42 punts he had twelve land inside the 20-yard line, ten that were fair caught and another three that were touchbacks. On the season he led Division III in punting average at 45.6 yards/punt, which is a new single-season program record, beating out Sean Lipscomb's 45.2 average from 2000. He also helped the Maroon and Grey finish second in the nation in net punting at 41.16. Throughout the year he was selected as the SCIAC Specialist of the Week and was named to the d3football.com Team of the Week.
Garcia becomes the seventh Bulldog in the history of the program to be named an AFCA All-American and the first punter to be recognized. He joins Daniel Gonzales (Defensive Back – 2017), Kevin Grady (Kicker – 2012), Mike Nicolini (Defensive Back-2010), Wil Goff (Defensive Line – 2003), James Shields (Defensive Line – 1992), and Randy Van Horn (Offensive Line – 1977).
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Team Background: The AFCA has selected an All-America team every year since 1945. The five teams now chosen for each AFCA division evolved from a single 11-player squad in 1945. From 1945 until 1967, only one team was chosen.
From 1967 through 1971, two teams – University Division and College Division – were selected. In 1972, the College Division was split into College I and College II.
In 1979, the University Division was split into two teams — Division I-A and Division I-AA.
In 1996, the College I and College II teams were renamed Division II and Division III, respectively. The AFCA began selecting an NAIA-only team in 2006. Also in 2006, the Division I-A and Division I-AA teams were renamed Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), respectively.
From 1965-81, a 22-player (11 offensive, 11 defensive) team was chosen. In 1982, a punter and placekicker were added to the team. In 1997, a return specialist was added, giving us the current 25-player team. The return specialist position was replaced by an all-purpose player in 2006. In 2016, the AFCA added a second team All-America.
Selection Process: The AFCA's Division III All-America Selection Committee is made up of head coaches representing each conference from each of the AFCA's seven 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.
The Award: Members of the AFCA Coaches' All-America First Team will receive a plaque commemorating their selection to the team, while members of the Second Team will receive a certificate.