For Immediate Release
December 7, 2011
Courtesy of the New Haven Athletics Communications Staff
Boston, Mass. - Liberty Mutual Insurance announced University of New Haven head football coach Peter Rossomando as one of five Division II finalists for the 2011 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award earlier this week.
The award is the leading college football-coaching honor that
celebrates coaches for their sportsmanship, integrity,
responsibility and excellence, and for giving back to their teams,
schools and communities, on and off field.
Coaches across the country have spent the entire college football
season preparing themselves and readying their teams to take the
field each game day. However, for five Division II coaches, their
guidance and leadership extends well beyond the playing field,
leaving lasting impressions on the players they mentor and the
communities they reach.
The five finalists were determined as a result of online fan voting
at CoachoftheYear.com and through an objective scoring model
endorsed by the College Football Hall of Fame. Each coach was among
the top 15 in fan votes in Division II to qualify for the model,
which considers, among other criteria: wins, team penalties,
on-field sportsmanship, academic achievement by the
student-athletes, and commitment to charitable endeavors. Voting
continues through December 22 at CoachoftheYear.com to help
determine the 2011 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year winners.
“College football fans clearly recognize Coach Rossomando as
one of the game’s true leaders, and we agree he is an
excellent finalist for the 2011 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year
Award,” said Greg Gordon, Liberty
Mutual senior vice president, Consumer Marketing.
“Each year, we ask fans to vote for the coaches who best
exemplify the award’s characteristics – sportsmanship,
integrity, responsibility and excellence, on and off the field.
Peter Rossomando does just that, through his success on game days,
as well as providing leadership to his student-athletes and
commitment to the greater New Haven community.”
Joining Coach Rossomando among the five Division II finalists for
the 2011 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award are, in
alphabetical order: Tim Beck,
Pittsburg State University (Kan.); Bill
Maskill, Midwestern State University (Texas);
Scott Underwood, St. Cloud State
University (Minn.); andJohn Wristen,
Colorado State University-Pueblo.
Liberty Mutual will announce the four winners the morning of the
BCS Championship game, January 9, 2012, in New Orleans.
If Rossomando is named 2011 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year for Division II, he will receive $50,000 to donate to the charities of his choice and a $20,000 grant to his school's alumni association. Since 2006, the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award has celebrated the work of 17 winning coaches by donating more than $1.2 million to over 80 charities and college alumni scholarship funds across the country.
Former Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Division II winners
include: Bob Nielson, University of
Minnesota-Duluth (2010);Mel Tjeerdsma,
Northwest Missouri State (2009); Chuck
Broyles, Pittsburg State University (2008); and
Bill O'Boyle, Chadron State College
(2007).
