Long-time Wake Forest Athletic Administrator and Coach to Receive the AFCA’s 2021 Outstanding Achievement Award
November 17, 2021
Bill Faircloth, an AFCA 35-year member and long-time athletic administrator and coach at Wake Forest, was selected as the recipient of the 2021 AFCA Outstanding Achievement Award. The AFCA Board of Trustees created the Outstanding Achievement Award in order to recognize AFCA members, past and present, who have achieved outstanding success while coaching football. He will be honored at the AFCA Awards Luncheon on Monday, January 10, 2022, during the annual AFCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
Faircloth was a three-year letter winner at Wake Forest as an offensive lineman from 1961-63. He was team captain in his senior year and earned Academic All-ACC honors. Faircloth earned his master’s degree from Alabama in 1965.
Faircloth began his coaching career with Catawba College as an assistant coach from 1966-72. In 1973, he was named head coach, and spent three years in that position before moving on to Duke as an assistant coach in 1976. After two seasons at Duke, Faircloth returned to his alma as assistant coach in 1978.
RELATED ARTICLE: Community Champions Nominated for Allstate’s 30th AFCA Good Works Team
Faircloth worked under head coaches John Mackovic and Al Groh in his five seasons as an assistant. He helped the Demon Deacons earn a spot in the Tangerine Bowl in 1979 after going 8-4 that season. It was Wake Forest’s first bowl game in 30 years. In 1983, Faircloth moved away from coaching and became assistant athletic director for football, a position he would hold for 34 years.
In 2004, a newly renovated foyer was named after Faircloth for his dedication and long-time service to Wake Forest football. Faircloth hit a milestone in 2012 when he attended his 400th consecutive Wake Forest football game. When he decided to retire in 2016, Faircloth had served for 50 years in college football as a coach or administrator with 38 coming at Wake Forest.
Past Outstanding Achievement Award winners include: Tim Marcum, Tampa Bay Storm (2003); Joe Moore, Pittsburgh, Temple, Notre Dame (2005); Homer Smith, Davidson, Pacific, Army (2006); Ted Kempski, Delaware (2007); Ken Donahue, Alabama, Tennessee, Memphis, Mississippi State (2008); Roland Christensen, Wisconsin-La Crosse, Winona State (2009); Bill Hickey, Notre Dame, Coast Guard, Swarthmore, Princeton (2012); Joe Kines, Jacksonville State, Clemson, Florida, Alabama, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida State, Texas A&M (2013); Woody McCorvey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi State, Clemson (2014); Mike Terwilliger, East Stroudsburg (2015); Randy Hart, Tampa, Iowa State, Purdue, Ohio State, Washington, Notre Dame, Stanford (2016); George Belu, Marshall, Denison, Miami (Ohio), Colorado, NC State, LSU, Indiana, Wake Forest, Ohio State, Arizona Cardinals, Ohio Dominican (2017); Joe Whitt, Sr., Auburn (2018) and Jerry Brown, Northwestern (2019).
The American Football Coaches Association was founded in 1922 and currently has more than 11,000 members around the world ranging from the high school level to the professional ranks. According to its constitution, AFCA was formed, in part, to “maintain the highest possible standards in football and in the coaching profession” and to “provide a forum for the discussion and study of all matters pertaining to football.”
For more information about the AFCA, visit www.AFCA.com. For more interesting articles, check out insider.afca.com and subscribe to our weekly email.
If you are interested in more in-depth articles and videos, please become an AFCA member. You can find out more information about membership and specific member benefits on the AFCA Membership Overview page. If you are ready to join, please fill out the AFCA Membership Application.
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Bill Faircloth, an AFCA 35-year member and long-time athletic administrator and coach at Wake Forest, was selected as the recipient of the 2021 AFCA Outstanding Achievement Award. The AFCA Board of Trustees created the Outstanding Achievement Award in order to recognize AFCA members, past and present, who have achieved outstanding success while coaching football. He will be honored at the AFCA Awards Luncheon on Monday, January 10, 2022, during the annual AFCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas.
Faircloth was a three-year letter winner at Wake Forest as an offensive lineman from 1961-63. He was team captain in his senior year and earned Academic All-ACC honors. Faircloth earned his master’s degree from Alabama in 1965.
Faircloth began his coaching career with Catawba College as an assistant coach from 1966-72. In 1973, he was named head coach, and spent three years in that position before moving on to Duke as an assistant coach in 1976. After two seasons at Duke, Faircloth returned to his alma as assistant coach in 1978.
RELATED ARTICLE: Community Champions Nominated for Allstate’s 30th AFCA Good Works Team
Faircloth worked under head coaches John Mackovic and Al Groh in his five seasons as an assistant. He helped the Demon Deacons earn a spot in the Tangerine Bowl in 1979 after going 8-4 that season. It was Wake Forest’s first bowl game in 30 years. In 1983, Faircloth moved away from coaching and became assistant athletic director for football, a position he would hold for 34 years.
In 2004, a newly renovated foyer was named after Faircloth for his dedication and long-time service to Wake Forest football. Faircloth hit a milestone in 2012 when he attended his 400th consecutive Wake Forest football game. When he decided to retire in 2016, Faircloth had served for 50 years in college football as a coach or administrator with 38 coming at Wake Forest.
Past Outstanding Achievement Award winners include: Tim Marcum, Tampa Bay Storm (2003); Joe Moore, Pittsburgh, Temple, Notre Dame (2005); Homer Smith, Davidson, Pacific, Army (2006); Ted Kempski, Delaware (2007); Ken Donahue, Alabama, Tennessee, Memphis, Mississippi State (2008); Roland Christensen, Wisconsin-La Crosse, Winona State (2009); Bill Hickey, Notre Dame, Coast Guard, Swarthmore, Princeton (2012); Joe Kines, Jacksonville State, Clemson, Florida, Alabama, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida State, Texas A&M (2013); Woody McCorvey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi State, Clemson (2014); Mike Terwilliger, East Stroudsburg (2015); Randy Hart, Tampa, Iowa State, Purdue, Ohio State, Washington, Notre Dame, Stanford (2016); George Belu, Marshall, Denison, Miami (Ohio), Colorado, NC State, LSU, Indiana, Wake Forest, Ohio State, Arizona Cardinals, Ohio Dominican (2017); Joe Whitt, Sr., Auburn (2018) and Jerry Brown, Northwestern (2019).
The American Football Coaches Association was founded in 1922 and currently has more than 11,000 members around the world ranging from the high school level to the professional ranks. According to its constitution, AFCA was formed, in part, to “maintain the highest possible standards in football and in the coaching profession” and to “provide a forum for the discussion and study of all matters pertaining to football.”
For more information about the AFCA, visit www.AFCA.com. For more interesting articles, check out insider.afca.com and subscribe to our weekly email.
If you are interested in more in-depth articles and videos, please become an AFCA member. You can find out more information about membership and specific member benefits on the AFCA Membership Overview page. If you are ready to join, please fill out the AFCA Membership Application.
