WACO, Texas - North Dakota State head football coach Tim Polasek was named FCS Region 4 Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association on Tuesday, Nov. 19.

Polasek has led the Bison to a 10-1 record in his first season as a head coach, including a 7-0 record in the Missouri Valley Football Conference for at least a share of the conference title. It is the 11th MVFC title in 17 seasons for the Bison.

No. 1-ranked NDSU closes out the regular season at No. 4-ranked South Dakota this weekend. The Bison have won 10 straight games and can clinch the program's seventh outright MVFC title with a victory over the Coyotes.

Polasek is in his third stint at North Dakota State. He worked under head coach Craig Bohl from 2006 to 2012 coaching the running backs, tight ends and fullbacks in addition to his duties with special teams and recruiting. He returned to NDSU in 2014 and spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator and running backs coach under Chris Klieman.

In between his two stops at North Dakota State, Polasek was the tight ends and fullbacks coach for a 12-2 Northern Illinois team that advanced to the 2013 Mid-American Conference championship game and Poinsettia Bowl.

Polasek has eight years coaching experience at the FBS level. He spent four seasons in the Big Ten Conference as offensive line coach at Iowa from 2017 to 2020, and was in the Mountain West Conference as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Bohl at Wyoming from 2021 to 2023.

North Dakota State ranks second all-time with 17 AFCA Region Coach of the Year awards under nine different head coaches, including four for Ron Erhardt, three for Don Morton and Matt Entz, and two for Craig Bohl. NDSU's other regional coaches of the year are Polasek, Chris Klieman, Earle Solomonson, Jim Wacker and Darrell Mudra.

This year's regional coach of the year winners will be honored on Monday, Jan. 13, during the 2025 AFCA Convention in Charlotte, N.C.