WACO, Texas — The American Football Coaches Association has announced Ram football head coach Joe Prud'homme as one of the 2021 Regional Coach of the Year honorees at the NAIA level.

Joe Prud'homme adds to his list of accolades with the AFCA NAIA Region 5 Coach of the Year award. Prud'homme led the Rams to a 7-3 overall record and a 7-2 conference record, its best season since the program restarted competition in 2017.

"I'm really happy to see Joe receive this award - he's truly deserving of the honor," said TXWES Athletic Director Ricky Dotson. "Only he and his staff really know the work and the effort that he's put into building our football program, and the results are now starting to show.  In my opinion, he's ahead of schedule with our program's development, and I think the best is yet to come." 

The team also went a perfect 4-0 on home turf in 2021. The impressive season was exciting and fun to watch, and Ram fans were abuzz all season with playoff hopes in the picture. TXWES had a top 10 scoring offense (42.3 ppg - 9th in NAIA), due in part by the talented students athletes recruited by the football staff, but also due in part by mastermind Fran Johnson in the offensive coordinator role. In his first season at TXWES, Johnson led the offensive to 401 yards per game. 

14 Rams (7-offense, 5-defense, 2-special teams) were named All-SAC. TXWES led the conference in SAC Player of the Week awards with nine selections.   

The AFCA names coach of the year winners for Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II, Division III and NAIA. These winners will be honored on Monday, January 10, during the 2022 AFCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas. The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association's five divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision, FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA. The winners are selected by Active members of the Association who vote for coaches in their respective regions and divisions.

The University just announced plans to build a $16.5 million dollar stadium project.