Baton Rouge, La.-----San Jose State University football defensive line coach Jim Jeffocat is one of four finalists for the 2012 FootballScoop Defensive Line Coach of the Year Award.

            The award is one of several presented by ProGrass at the Annual American Football Coaches Association annual January convention honoring "...the most outstanding coaches in college football."

            Finishing his second season with the Spartans, Jeffcoat coached one of the top pass rushing teams among the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools. San Jose State finished the regular season ranked fifth in quarterback sacks with 40. The Spartans are the only FBS team with all four of their starting defensive line ranked in the top-100 for quarterback sacks (Travis Johnson, 7^th tied; Travis Raciti, 42^nd tied; Anthony Larceval, 64^th tied; and david Tuitupou, 97^th tied).

The San Jose State defensive line contributed to the team currently ranking 19^th in rushing defense, 25^th in scoring defense and 28^th in total defense.

            Jeffcoat joined the San Jose State staff after three seasons at the University of Houston and seven seasons coaching with the Dallas Cowboys. He had a brilliant 15-year National Football League career with Dallas and the Buffalo Bills. Earlier this season, he was enshrined in the Arizona State University Ring of Honor in Sun Devil Stadium.

            The other three finalists for the FootballScoop Defensive Line Coach of the Year Award are Randy Hart of Stanford, Brad Lawing of South Carolina and Calvin Thibodeaux of Tulsa.