WACO, TX – Greg Chimera, who guided the Johns Hopkins football team to one of the greatest seasons in program history in 2023, has been named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Region 2 Coach of the Year it was announced today.  Chimera and the other four Division III honorees – Cortland's Curt Fiztpatrick (Reg. 1), Trinity's (TX) Jerheme Urban (Reg. 3), Alma's Jason Couch (Reg. 4) and Wartburg's Chris Winter – are now candidates for the AFCA's Division III National Coach of the Year award.

Chimera led the Blue Jays to a 12-1 record, the Centennial Conference title and a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals.  The 12 wins tied the program record for single-season victories and the 12-0 start to the season is the best ever at Johns Hopkins.  The Centennial Conference title the Blue Jays claimed is the second under Chimera's direction (2021) and the first outright title for JHU since 2016, while the trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals is the third in program history.

Previously, Chimera and his staff were honored as the Centennial Conference Coaching Staff of the Year.  In addition to the above achievements, Johns Hopkins spent the entire season ranked in the top 10 by the AFCA; in the D3football.com Poll, the Blue Jays debuted at #18 in the preseason and steadily climbed into the top 10, where they spent the final eight weeks of the regular season.  Final national polls for the AFCA and D3football.com will be released after the national championship game on December 15; the Blue Jays were ranked seventh in the nation in the final regular season polls by both organizations.

Chimera's selection marks the fifth time a Johns Hopkins coach has been named the AFCA's Regional Coach of the Year.  Jim Margraff earned the honor four times (2011, 2014, 2016, 2018) and was tabbed the organization's National Coach of the Year in 2018.

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