CARBONDALE - Southern Illinois University football coach Dale Lennon was named the Bruce Craddock Missouri Valley Football Conference Coach of the Year, the league announced as part of its 2008 All-Conference Team Monday.

Lennon, a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award (given to the nation's top FCS coach), led SIU to a 9-3 record, share of the Valley Football title and NCAA postseason berth in his first year at the Saluki helm. A native of Knox, N.D., Lennon became only the third coach in league history to win the award in his first year in the conference. He is also the first head coach in Saluki Football history to garner the honor in his first season.

Lennon, Western Illinois RB Herb Donaldson and Northern Iowa DL James Ruffin highlight this year's specialty award-winners as the offensive and defensive players of the year. Donaldson, the league's all-time leading rusher, led all of Division I in both rushing (162.2 ypg) and scoring (12.0 ppg), while Ruffin leads UNI with 15 tackles for loss and nine sacks as part of a Panther defense which tops the league and ranks sixth in the nation in scoring defense.

SIU's first-team selections include RB/RS Larry Warner, OL Aaron Lockwood, LB Brandin Jordan, DB Korey Lindsey and P Scott Ravanesi.