RICHMOND, Va. (Nov. 26, 2013) – CAA Football announced its 2013 All-Conference honors on Tuesday after the close of another highly competitive season that has become a trademark of the league. The three all-conference teams and six individual honors were voted on by CAA Football’s head coaches and awarded following a year that saw nine of the league’s 11 teams ranked in both national polls at some point during the season.

Maine head coach Jack Cosgrove was named CAA Football Coach of the Year for the 2013 season. Towson junior running back Terrance West and James Madison senior linebacker Stephon Robertson earned Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year honors, respectively, while William & Mary junior Tre McBride was chosen Special Teams Player of the Year. Towson running back Darius Victor was selected Offensive Rookie of the Year and Maine linebacker Christophe Mulumba was designated Defensive Rookie of the Year. Marcus Wasilewski has also been named the winner of CAA Football’s second-annual Chuck Boone Leadership Award.

Cosgrove collects his first CAA Football Coach of the Year honor following a 10-win regular season in which he guided Maine to its best start in school history and the team’s first conference title since 2002. The Black Bears, who were selected eighth in the preseason CAA Football poll, are now a No. 5 seed in the FCS Playoffs and are set to host their first postseason game in the program’s 121-year history. An Eddie Robinson Award finalist for the third time, Cosgrove led Maine to its second-ever win over an FBS opponent with September’s win over UMass, which also marked the program’s 500th victory.

The league’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, West receives the year-end nod on the heels of another prolific season with the Tigers. The Walter Payton Award finalist leads all of college football with 31 touchdowns and FCS with 1,875 rushing yards this season. West has already set a range of records as only a junior, including a new conference record with 73 rushing touchdowns, and has become the first Towson player to surpass 4,000 yards on the ground.

Robertson cops his second-consecutive Defensive Player of the Year honor after concluding his stellar career with the Dukes. The Buck Buchanan Award finalist finished his four years in Harrisonburg ranked fourth on the program’s all-time charts with 445 career tackles and as the FCS active leader in career, solo and assisted stops. Robertson started all 46 collegiate contests in which he appeared, totaling 26 career double-digit tackle efforts along the way.

McBride becomes the fourth-consecutive Tribe player to be selected Special Teams Player of the year after wrapping up the regular season leading CAA Football with 27.5 yards per kick return and ranked third with 127.8 return yards per game. One of the league’s most lethal return threats, he capped off the year with 282 all-purpose yards in the Capital Cup against Richmond, an effort that ranks as the 10th-best in school history.

Victor closed out his first collegiate regular season as Towson’s second-leading rusher behind standout Terrance West. The true freshman ranks second on the team averaging 45.6 yards per game to go with five touchdowns on the ground in just nine games played. Victor also ranks third league-wide with 6.3 yards per carry and rounds out Towson’s top three with 410 yards of total offense this fall.

Mulumba has made an immediate impact in Maine’s “Black Hole” defense. The Jerry Rice Award finalist and four-time conference Rookie of the Week finished the regular season ranked sixth in the league with a team-high 105 tackles, representing the most by a rookie since the Black Bears joined CAA Football. Mulumba started all 12 games in his first season in Orono, a streak highlighted by a conference single-game high 19 tackles in the win at UAlbany.

Wasilewski was named the winner of the second annual Chuck Boone Leadership Award, which is presented to the CAA Football player who embodies the highest standards of leadership, integrity, teamwork and sportsmanship in his academic and athletic achievements and is voted on by the athletic directors of the league's 11 member institutions. Wasilewski has not only excelled on the field as a First Team All-Conference quarterback who’s helped lead Maine to an outright conference title, but he has also excelled in the classroom with a 3.4 cumulative GPA and undertaken various initiatives that include organizing a team-wide summer plan in 2013 and using his major in kinesiology and physical education to revamp several training and sports medicine methods to better the well-being of his fellow student-athletes.

For continued coverage of the conference, please visit CAAFootball.com. The league is on Twitter @CAAFootball and uses the official hashtag #CAAFB. We can also be found on Facebook, Instagram and blogging on our official Every Day Is Saturday blog at caafootball.wordpress.com. All CAA Football video productions can be found on our YouTube Channel.

2013 CAA Football Major Awards (as voted on by the head coaches)

Coach of the Year: Jack Cosgrove, Maine, 21 seasons

Offensive Player of the Year: Terrance West, Towson, Jr., Running Back

Defensive Player of the Year: Stephon Robertson, James Madison, Sr., Linebacker

Special Teams Player of the Year: Tre McBride, William & Mary, Jr., Kick/Punt Returner

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Darius Victor, Towson, Fr., Running Back

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Christophe Mulumba, Maine, R-Fr., Linebacker