Randy Awrey

Awrey was born and raised in Iron Mountain, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He was a childhood friend of Steve Mariucci, with whom he played college football at Northern Michigan University.[1] Awrey played for the Northern Michigan Wildcats football team as a cornerback during his freshman year before switching to running back. As a sophomore on the 1975 Northern Michigan team, he scored the winning touchdown on a 67-yard run in the second half of the Camellia Bowl, earning MVP honors for the game as the Wildcats captured the NCAA Division II Football Championship title over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.[2][3] As a senior, Awrey earned honorable mention on the 1977 Little All-America college football team by the Associated Press. He finished his career for the Wildcats with 2,096 rushing yards, 26 touchdowns, and 45 receptions for 487 yards receiving. He graduated in 1978 from Northern Michigan with degrees in criminal justice, business administration, and physical education and health.[4]

In 1981, Awrey coached the freshman football team at Westwood High School in Ishpeming Township, Michigan.[5]

In February 1990, Awrey was hired as the head football coach at Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Kentucky, succeeding Billy Mitchell, who had been fired the previous November.[6] He resigned from his post at Kentucky Wesleyan in 1993 after leading the Panthers to a record of 11–29 in four seasons. His 1993 squad went 6–4, achieving the program's first winning season since the school reinstituted the sport in 1983 following a 50-year hiatus.[7]

Awrey moved on to Lakeland College—now known as Lakeland University—in Plymouth, Wisconsin, where he was introduced as the school's new head football coach in February 1994.[8][9] After a 4–6 campaign during his first year at Lakeland in 1994, Awrey's Muskies improved to 6–3–1 overall in 1995 with a mark of 4–2 in Illini–Badger Football Conference (IBFC) play, and he was named IBFC Coach of the Year.[10] In 1996, Lakeland improved again to 8–2, winning the IBFC championship as Awrey repeated as the conference's coach of the year.[11] The Muskies won a second consecutive IBFC title in 1997 with a perfect 10–0 season. Awkrey resigned after the 1998 season to become the head football coach at Saginaw Valley State University in University Center, Michigan. He finished his five-year tenure at Lakeland with a record of 35–14–1 and the best winning percentage (.700) of any head coach in program history.[12]

Awrey was the head football coach at Saginaw Valley State for nine seasons, from 1999 to 2007, compiling a record of 76–27. He has the highest winning percentage (.738) of any head coach Saginaw Valley State football history.[13]

Awrey was inducted into the athletic hall of fame at Northern Michigan in 1998 and at Saginaw Valley State in 2022.[14][15]

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