Jan. 9, 2005

ABILENE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' head football coach Jimmie Keeling will be presented with the Grant Teaff Lifetime Achievement Award by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) yearly convention in Louisville, Kentucky on Wednesday, January 12.

The award recognizes a coach that has committed his life to being a Christian influence on the lives of student-athletes. Teaff is the former head coach at McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and is currently the Executive Director of the AFCA.

The Teaff Award is the most prestigious of three annual football awards that the FCA distributes. The other two awards are the FCA Football Coach of the Year and the Bobby Bowden Player of the Year. Tommy Tuberville of Auburn University has been named the coach of the year, and Billy Bajema of Oklahoma State University is the FCA Player of the Year.

"This is a big honor for me," said Keeling. "Lifetime achievement just means you have lived a long time, but to get an award named for Grant Teaff is an extreme honor. Grant is one of my good friends in the coaching profession and he has been someone that is a Christian influence on not only my coaching career, but my life as well."

Keeling who celebrated his "50 Years of Excellence" this past spring recently completed his 15th season as the head coach of Hardin-Simmons, after a long and successful high school career that spanned across four decades.

At Hardin-Simmons, he has posted a record of 127-37 and has led the Cowboys to 10 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association or American Southwest Conference titles. His teams have been the conference champion in six of the last seven seasons.

Keeling has been named the conference coach of the year five times and twice has been named the South Region Coach of the Year by the AFCA, including this past season. In 2002, he won the head coaching award by the All-American Football Foundation. He has coached 32 players to All-American status at HSU - including seven this season.