NDSU’s Bohl named Missouri Valley Coach of the Year

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FARGO — Wednesday started off as an exciting day for the North Dakota State football team, but the news quickly turned sour.

On the same day that NDSU’s Craig Bohl was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s Coach of the Year, Zach Vraa re-injured the same collarbone at practice that he has been recovering from. Bohl believes Vraa’s collarbone is once again broken.

Vraa initially injured the collarbone during the team’s season-opening victory against Lafayette College on Sept. 3. Prior to Wednesday’s practice, there was hope that Vraa would be able to return to the team in time for its second-round Football Championship Subdivision playoff game on Dec. 3. NDSU (10-1) earned a bye for the first round by getting the No. 2 seed.

“Zach’s in. Zach’s out,” Bohl said. “We’ll look at the X-rays, but I don’t think we’ll have him.”

Vraa’s re-injury happened within hours of Bohl being named Coach of the Year in the MVFC by conference coaches, media and sports information directors.

“This is a great recognition for our program,” Bohl said. “… I’ll accept that on behalf of our program, but it’s not an individual honor. I want to be clear on this. This is a collective recognition. A whole lot of people went into this, and I had very little to do with it.”

It’s not the first such honor for Bohl. He was named Great West Conference Coach of the Year in 2006, having led the Bison to a 10-1 record that season and their first conference title since 1994.

“It’s another step in the Missouri Valley Conference with our program,” Bohl said. “We’re in the midst of a playoff run, and that’s really what’s important to us.”

NDSU cornerback Marcus Williams finished second in voting for MVFC Defensive Player of the Year. Northern Iowa’s L.J. Fort collected the honor, beating out Williams by a vote of 57-41.

This report was written by the staff of

The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.

Tags: craig bohl, college football, sports, bison