Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 29, 1995 TAG: 9511290092
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press ATLANTA
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
George Welsh, whose Virginia team brought an end to Florida State's domination of ACC football, is The Associated Press' coach of the year for the conference.
Welsh was one of four people to receive individual awards during the league's annual banquet Tuesday night.
Florida State quarterback Danny Kanell was a double-winner, as offensive player of the year and overall player of the year. North Carolina defensive end Marcus Jones was defensive player of the year, and Clemson linebacker Anthony Simmons was named rookie of the year.
Welsh was a runaway winner in balloting by the Atlantic Coast Sports Writers Association. He received 52 of the 86 ballots cast, far ahead of Clemson coach Tommy West, who had 19. George O'Leary of Georgia Tech was third with 13 and Bobby Bowden of Florida State was next with two.
The Cavaliers absorbed last-second losses to Michigan and Texas and were knocked off by North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Before a national television audience, Virginia built a lead over the Seminoles, then made it stand in a fourth-quarter comeback that ended inches short of the goal line.
``The players should get most of the credit because they have to do the work, and my assistant coaches should get the remainder of the credit,'' Welsh said. ``I'm more of a supervisor and I delegate now, so they're the ones doing the work. I think it's something they can appreciate, too.''
Kanell received 40 votes for offensive player of the year, beating Virginia running back Tiki Barber's 25. Seminoles running back Warrick Dunn was third with 18 votes, followed by Maryland wide receiver Jermaine Lewis with three and Florida State's Pooh Bear Williams with one.
The player of the year voting was a little closer, with nearly the same order of finish. Kanell had 31 votes, Barber - from Cave Spring High School - received 231/2 and Dunn collected 131/2. Lewis was fourth with three, Jones was next with one, and Simmons and Will Brice of Virginia each had a half-vote.
Jones had 44 votes, four times the number of Simmons' total. Brian Dawkins of Clemson was third. In all, 16 players received votes for the defensive honor.
Despite being slowed by injuries in the early part of the season, Jones came on strong in the closing eight games. He had 81 tackles in those games, including 19 tackles for losses totaling 74 yards. He broke Lawrence Taylor's record for sacks in a career with 24. The previous sacks mark was 21.
Only three players were considered for rookie of the year. Simmons received all but 11 of the 87 votes cast. Virginia's Anthony Poindexter had nine and Charles Wiley of Georgia Tech got two votes.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.