Mills of Amherst, Dexter of Colby Honored by Gridiron Club of Greater Boston

Courtesy Gridiron Club of Greater Boston/Amherst Sports Information

BOSTON, Mass. – Gridiron Club of Greater Boston president Steve Grogan announced on Tuesday that E.J. Mills of Amherst College has been named the head coach of the year for Divisions II/III, while Tom Dexter, defensive coordinator at Colby College, was selected as the recipient of the assistant coach of the year award. The announcement was made as part of the club releasing its annual football award winners.

This is the third 2009 Coach of the Year honor for Mills, who was also recognized by the NESCAC and the American Football Coaches Association. Mills becomes the third NESCAC coach to be named the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston's DII/III New England Head Coach of the Year, an honor that has been bestowed since 1999.

Mills’ 13th season as Amherst’s head coach was his most accomplished. The Lord Jeffs finished at a perfect 8-0 for the first time since 1984, won their first outright NESCAC title, claimed the Little Three crown for the first time since 2004, defeated Trinity College for the first time since 2001, and won at archrival Williams College’s Weston Field for the first time since 1985. Amherst currently leads all of Division III in sacks per game (4.75) and ranks second in rushing defense (50.9 ypg), third in tackles-for-loss per game (9.5), fourth in red zone defense (52%) and fifth in scoring defense (10.4 ppg).

Dexter completed his 21st season on Colby's football coaching staff this fall. A 1987 graduate of SUNY-Cortland, Dexter played quarterback and defensive back while in college. In 1988 he earned his master's degree from Cortland while serving as a defensive line coach there. Dexter then went to Cornell University for one year, where he was the defensive secondary coach and defensive coordinator of the freshman football team. Dexter also serves as assistant baseball coach and director of the fitness center at Colby.

Mills and Dexter will join the other honorees at the Gridiron Club's annual Bob Whelan College Football Awards Night on Thursday, January 14, 2010.