RICHMOND, Va. – The Touchdown Club of Richmond has announced that Washington and Lee Head Coach Scott Abell has been selected to receive the Willard Bailey Coach of the Year Award as the State Coach of the Year for the College Division.
Danny Rocco of the University of Richmond will receive the Bobby Ross Award as the top University Division coach. The awards will be presented at the All-Metro Football Banquet on Thursday, January 21 at the Hilton Hotel in Richmond. The event is open to the public and tickets cost $40.00. They may be purchased by calling Ron Axselle at 804.740.7055 or via email at coachax@verizon.net.
Abell will be receiving the Willard Bailey Award for a second time, having claimed it following the 2012 season as well. His 2015 squad finished with the school's first undefeated regular season in 54 years and set a school record for wins by going 10-1 overall. The Generals were the first ODAC team to ever go 7-0 in league play and W&L engineered the greatest turnaround in all divisions of the NCAA this season, improving its record by eight games from a season ago.
Abell received the ODAC Coach of the Year Award for the second time in his four seasons as the Generals grabbed the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the fourth time since 2006 and the second time in Abell's four years as head coach. The Blue & White fell in the opening round of the tournament to Thomas More by a score of 51-21 and finished the season ranked 21st in the D3football.com poll.
The Generals set a slew of school records during the 2015 season, including establishing new marks for season total offense (5,439 yds.), rushing offense (4,773 yds.) and points scored (417). W&L led all of college football with an average of 433.9 yards per game, producing the three best single-game rushing performances in Old Dominion Athletic Conference history. W&L rushed for a school-record 649 yards in a season-opening 63-35 win over Averett, and added 508 rushing yards against Emory & Henry and 506 rushing yards against Bridgewater.
After his four seasons, Abell has compiled a 25-17 overall record and two ODAC titles. Prior to arriving at W&L as offensive coordinator in 2008, he led Amherst County High School to a pair of state titles and was twice named the State Coach of the Year.
The Touchdown Club of Richmond is a sports-social organization, based in Richmond, that promotes the best interests of the American game of football, and sports in general, under the guidance of elected officers with the predominate purpose being to recognize worthy athletes for their accomplishments and to encourage them to continue their education and athletic career.