WACO, Texas -- The accolades continued to roll in Tuesday morning for Montana Tech football head coach Kyle Samson. 

The sixth-year head coach guided the Orediggers to the most successful regular season in program history, boasting an unblemished 11-0 record, the Frontier Conference East Division championship, and the No. 3 seed in the NAIA Football Championship Series. Montana Tech will continue the dream season Saturday at home against rival and 14th-seeded Carroll at 1 p.m. 

Four of Montana Tech's 11 regular-season wins came against top-25 opponents, and the Orediggers finished the regular season ranked atop the NAIA's Football Performance Indicator. 

Tech, which had a first-round bye in the playoffs, currently ranks second in the NAIA in passing yards per attempt, third in punt return yards, sixth in third- and fourth-down conversion percentage, 10th in passing touchdowns and red-zone scoring percentage, and 14th in points scored. The Orediggers saw a program-record 20 players receive all-conference recognition. Samson was the Frontier East's coach of the year.

Samson was one of 18 coaches at all levels of intercollegiate football to win his first-career award in 2025. Tuesday marked the third time in program history that a Montana Tech coach garnered the AFCA's regional award; Chuck Morrell won the honor in 2016 and 2012. The AFCA began recognizing NAIA region coaches of the year in 2006. 

The AFCA recognizes five regional Coach of the Year winners in each of the Association's five divisions: Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, 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 organization will announce the 2025 National Coaches of the Year winners in FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III, and NAIA on Monday, December 15. The regional winners in each division are finalists for National Coach of the Year. 

The AFCA began recognizing district coaches of the year following the 1960 season. The awards were established the same year Eastman Kodak agreed to sponsor the AFCA Coach of the Year award. Prior to 1960, the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain had sponsored the program, which recognized one national coach of the year. 

2025 AFCA NAIA Regional Coach of the Year Winners 
Region 1: Myles Russ, Keiser 
Region 2: Ted Karras, Marian 
Region 3: Joel Osborn, Benedictine (Kan.) 
Region 4: Joel Penner, Dordt 
Region 5: Kyle Samson, Montana Tech 

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