Sports Network Release / NCAA Selection Show Video Recap
Wagner-Duquesne Highlights / Wagner-Duquesne Post-Game Interviews

Philadelphia, PA – On the heels of leading Wagner to its first-ever Northeast Conference (NEC) Football Championship, Seahawk Head Coach and Athletic Director Walt Hameline has been named as one of 20 finalists for the prestigious Eddie Robinson Award. Since 1987 the Eddie Robinson Award has been given annually to college football's top head coach in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The award is named for Eddie Robinson, the College Football Hall of Fame coach, who retired in 1997 after 56 years at Grambling State University.

The 20 head coaches represent all of the 13 FCS Conferences, however an argument may be made that no other coach on the list has faced more obstacles, both on and off the field, this season than Hameline. Wagner dropped a narrow 7-3 decision at FBS member FAU in the opener before dropping a three-point decision at Georgetown. The Seahawks then were defeated soundly by Monmouth.

Since falling by a 38-17 score to the Hawks all the Green & White has done is win eight-straight games, culminated by a come-from-behind 23-17 victory against Duquesne that clinched the NEC Title this past Saturday.  Six of the eight victories have come by 10 points or less, a testament to Hameline's coaching and game management. However, the biggest victory during the current eight-game winning streak was a 30-0 thrashing of First Place and Nationally Ranked Albany.

While the victory over the Great Danes was important, it was nothing compared with what the rest of Staten Island was going through during that time. Hurricane Sandy had ravaged the Island, leaving in its wake a level of destruction previously unseen by the New York City borough. Without power until the Thursday before the Albany game, the Wagner football team stuck together and persevered.

More impressive than the shutout victory was the response of Hameline and the rest of the team after returning to the Island. On Monday, a day typically earmarked as off from football activities, the 32nd year coach and the rest of the Seahawks helped aid the Staten Island Hurricane Sandy relief efforts, by volunteering their time in the New Dorp section of Staten Island. A New York Times article of Wagner's role in the recovery efforts can be found by clicking HERE.

A panel of about 160 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries will select the Robinson Award winner, which is presented by the Sports Network.

Voting will reflect only the regular season and conclude before the FCS playoffs begin on Saturday. The winner will be announced on December 17 at the FCS Awards Banquet and Presentation in Philadelphia.

Wagner will host No. 24 Colgate on Saturday, November 24 at 12:00 pm in a NCAA Football Division I Championship opening round game at Hameline Field. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling the ticket office at (718) 420-4039.

Follow Wagner Athletics on Twitter (@wagnerathletics) for all the latest news and updates on the athletic department.

Photography by Dave Saffran