COMMERCE - Texas A&M University-Commerce football offensive coordinator Matt Storm has been named the 2017 FootballScoop Division II Coordinator of the Year presented by AstroTurf, as announced Tuesday.

A&M-Commerce started the season with an 8-7 win over North Alabama. The Lions' offense took off from there — all the way to the school's first Division II National Championship. The Lions topped the 30-point barrier in 13 of its remaining 14 games and busted the 50-point barrier four times.

The Lions were led to the national title by a prolific passing attack. Luis Perez completed 421-of-596 passes (70.7 percent) for 4,999 yards (9.04 yards per attempt) with 46 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. The Harlon Hill Trophy winner as the Division II National Player of the Year, Perez led Division II in passing at 333.3 yards per game. He posted seven games of at least four touchdown passes, including two with five, and seven games of at least 350 passing yards.

In Saturday's 37-27 Division II National Championship win over West Florida, Perez connected on 23-of-30 passes for 323 yards with two touchdowns and one interceptions. Perez spread the ball around to a deep group of wide receivers, as five Lions caught between 59 and 65 passes on the year.

The Lions were also among the best in Division II at consistently moving the ball. Their 338 first downs ranked second nationally, good for 22.5 per game.Texas A&M-Commerce also posted scores on 87 percent of its 69 red zone trips, including 41 touchdowns.

As a team, A&M-Commerce averaged 447.3 yards per game and 6.46 per play — both good for the top 30 nationally.

In addition to Perez's Harlon Hill Trophy, he and offensive lineman Jared Machorro were named All-Americans by the Associated Press, the Division II Conference Commissioners' Association, and the Associate Press. Perez also won the J.W. Rollins Award as the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Year, while Machorro and Vincent Hobbs were named First Team All-LSC honorees.

An East Central University graduate, Storm spent six seasons on staff of his alma mater as defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator. Storm also spent one season on staff at West Texas A&M, where he helped the Buffaloes lead the Lone Star Conference in total offense and reach the Division II semifinals. Storm has been A&M-Commerce's offensive coordinator since 2013.

The FootballScoop Coaches of the Year awards presented by ProGrass are the only set of awards that recognize the most outstanding position coaches in college football. The finalists (Adam Austin [Midwestern State], Joe Beschorner [Minnesota State], Mike Burket [Shippensburg], Mark Criner and Donnell Leomiti [Colorado State-Pueblo], Jim Smith [Indiana], Moses Ware [Bowie State] and Storm) were selected based off of nominations by coaches, athletic directors, and athletic department personnel. The prior winners selected this year's winner.

Storm will receive his award and be recognized at an event at the AFCA Convention in January.

Previous winners of the Division II Coordinator of the Year award are Tim Beck (Pittsburg State [Kan.], 2008), Scott Preston (Arkansas Tech, 2009), Ken Collums (Abilene Christian, 2010), Hunter Hughes (Colorado State-Pueblo, 2011), Paul Tortorella (Indiana [Pa.], 2012), Josh Kline (Shepherd [W. Va.], 2013), Rich Wright (Northwest Missouri State, 2014 and 2015) and Charlie Flohr (Northwest Missouri State, 2016).

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