AFCA — American Football Coaches Association

What is the AFCA?

The American Football Coaches Association is a membership association of football coaches in the United States. It states that it “was founded to ensure that every football coach receives the finest professional development support and resources available”.^[1] Its mission statement sets out wider aims: “to maintain the highest possible standards in football and the profession of coaching football”, to provide a forum for the study of the game, “to make the game as safe and entertaining as possible through the rules of play”, “to have a strong voice in intercollegiate legislation affecting football programs”, and to exchange information on coaching methods.^[2]

It is not a governing body. It runs no league, writes no playing code and sanctions no competition; what it produces is professional education, an annual convention, weekly coaches’ polls and a set of awards and All-America teams selected by its members. In law it is a tax-exempt organisation under section 501(c)(6) of the US Internal Revenue Code, the subsection for business leagues and professional associations, with a separate 501(c)(3) foundation for its education work.^[6][7]

What does the AFCA do?

Its work is aimed at coaches rather than competitions. The site’s resources menu lists professional development programmes, a career centre for coaching jobs, a “35 Under 35” leadership programme for younger coaches and content series for members; membership brings attendance at the annual convention.^[1][2]

On rules and legislation the AFCA’s role is advocacy, stated in its own mission: a voice in “intercollegiate legislation affecting football programs” and in making the game safe “through the rules of play”.^[2] The playing rules of the college game and its championships are set by the college governing bodies — the NCAA and the NAIA — and the association’s documents retrieved describe no power to make or enforce them.

Its education arm is the American Football Coaches Foundation, which the AFCA says it established in 1998 “to fund its education mission”, promoting “education in coaching the game of football at the youth, amateur and recreational levels”.^[8] The AFCA does not run anti-doping testing, officiating or rankings of individual players; its rankings are the team polls described below, compiled from coaches’ ballots.

When was the AFCA founded and where is it based?

The association gives its own origin as a meeting of coaches in New York: “Founded in December of 1921 by 43 coaches in a meeting at the Hotel Astor in New York City”.^[2] No independent primary source for the date could be retrieved, so it is given as the AFCA states it.

Its headquarters is at 100 Legends Lane, Waco, Texas 76706, the address on its home page and staff directory.^[1][5] The IRS records summarised by ProPublica also place the association, and its foundation, in Waco.^[6][7] Its constitution leaves the seat to the board: “The site of the headquarters of the organization shall be determined by the Board of Trustees.”^[10]

The staff directory names Craig Bohl as executive director, with a deputy director, a director of divisional football and directors for the convention, media relations, education and content.^[5] No renaming of the association is recorded in the AFCA pages retrieved.

How is the AFCA recognised?

As an association, the AFCA’s standing is a legal and contractual one, not a federation’s. Its constitution states that “the name of the corporation is The American Football Coaches Association” and that “this corporation is not organized for profit”; the corporate seal it prescribes carries the words “American Football Coaches Association, New Hampshire, 1951”, and the constitution states no other date or state of incorporation.^[10] ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer, drawing on IRS data, files the American Football Coaches Association in Waco under EIN 02-0232424 as exempt under section 501(c)(6) — “Business leagues, chambers of commerce, real estate boards, etc, created for the improvement of business conditions” — with a ruling year of 1976 and Form 990 filings through the fiscal year ending June 2025.^[6] The American Football Coaches Foundation is filed separately, under EIN 91-1932432, as a 501(c)(3) organisation with a ruling year of 1999.^[7]

Its relation to the bodies that govern the college game is that of a professional association to them, not a part of them. Its polls are organised by NCAA division — FBS, FCS, Division II and Division III — and its Coach of the Year runs in those divisions and the NAIA.^[3][4] The AFCA All-America teams, the AFCA Coach of the Year and the Coaches’ Trophy are the association’s awards, not the NCAA’s; no NCAA document defining a formal role for the AFCA could be retrieved. Internationally, American football’s federation is a separate body, the IFAF, and the AFCA pages retrieved describe no affiliation to it.

What does the AFCA organise?

Coaches Polls. “Since 1950, the AFCA has conducted a weekly Top 20/Top 25 poll during the college football season.” The FBS poll uses “a panel of head coaches at FBS schools”, “chosen by random draw, conference by conference plus independents”; each coach submits a Top 25 scored from 25 points down to one. The AFCA added a Division III poll in 1999, a Division II poll in 2000 and an FCS poll in 2018.^[3]

The AFCA Coaches’ Trophy. “Since 1986, the winner of the UPI or Coaches Poll has received the AFCA Coaches’ Trophy”; the AFCA awards it to the No. 1 team in the final FBS poll, and states that US LBM “became the presenting sponsor in 2023”.^[3][4] It is separate from the College Football Playoff championship.

All-America teams. “Since 1945, the American Football Coaches Association has selected an All-America team”, which it describes as “the only one selected exclusively by the men who know the most about the players, the coaches themselves”; two 25-player teams are named in each of five divisions (FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III, NAIA).^[4]

Coach of the Year. First awarded in 1935; one national winner through 1959, two from 1960 to 1982, and since 2006 five, one per division, chosen from 25 regional winners. Other AFCA awards include the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award (1940), the Tuss McLaughry Award (1964), the Academic Achievement Award (from 1981), the Power of Influence Award (2002) and the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.^[4]

Convention. The 2027 AFCA Convention is scheduled for 14–16 February 2027 in Indianapolis.^[9]

Who are its members?

Members are individual coaches. The AFCA states that “any college, high school, junior college, international, semi-professional or professional football coach is eligible to become a member”, and that its membership “includes over 11,000 members and represents coaches and several stakeholders within the game of football” (figure as retrieved on 1 October 2026).^[2]

Dues are banded by level. The membership page lists categories for FBS head coaches; FBS assistants, graduate assistants and others; FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA head coaches; professional, CFL and Arena coaches and pro scouts; FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA assistants; junior-college and high school coaches; those not currently coaching; international coaches; and a high school affiliate membership.^[2] Coaches in the NFL and other professional leagues are therefore eligible, though the association’s polls and awards concern the college game.

The constitution sets seven membership classes — Active I, Active II, Allied I, Allied II, Retired, Foreign and Life — and states that “only Active I, Active II and Life members shall be entitled to vote upon all questions submitted to the membership for decision”.^[10]

Coaches vote in the association’s polls only when drawn onto a panel or named as a conference representative: FBS panellists are drawn from a pool of head coaches who volunteer, the FCS poll uses 26 coaches from all FCS conferences and independents, and the Division II and III polls use coaches representing each conference.^[3]