Newberry's Knight Named D2Football's National Coach of the Year; Eight SAC Players Earn Recognition

ROCK HILL, S.C. (theSAC.com) – Newberry's Todd Knight has been named D2Football's National Coach of the Year as announced by the organization on Monday (Dec. 29). In addition, Catawba's OL Avery Swinton and Emory & Henry's DL Ian Rhea were named  Second Team Elite 100 selections while six others were named Honorable Mention.

The Elite 100 is D2Football.com's version of an All-America team. Players are selected by staff members of D2Football.com with input from sitting head coaches as well as professional football scouting veteran Josh Buchanan. The team includes first and second team selections for offense, defense and special teams along with 25 "Squad" players for offense and defense. Squad players are equivalent to "honorable mention" selections in similar national recognition lists.

The National Coach of the Year is Todd Knight, who led Newberry to one of the biggest turnarounds in college football this year. The Wolves finished 3-8 in 2024 but improved to 12-2 with a SAC championship, three playoff victories and the program's first ever regional title.

Swinton and Rhea earned Second Team selections while Newberry and Wingate each had three players earn Honorable Mention selections. From Newberry, QB Reed Charpia, WR Keith Desaussure and LB Mikey Blandin earned Honorable Mention accolades while Wingate's trio of RB Xavier Pugh, WR Jaylon Himes and OL Will Hart also garnered a spot on the Honorable Mention list.

To view the entire list of selections, visit: https://www.d2football.com/2025-d2football.com-elite-100-team/