Stanford University head coach David Shaw, University of North Texas head coach Seth Littrell and North Dakota State University head coach Chris Klieman have been elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). Those coaches were elected by members attending the 2018 AFCA Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. Shaw will be an FBS Pac-12 representative while Littrell will be an FBS Conference USA representative. Klieman will be an FCS representative.

Shaw, Littrell and Klieman join a group of distinguished head coaches who guide the organization. The Board formulates policy and provides direction for the AFCA, which was founded in 1922 by Amos Alonzo Stagg, John Heisman and others. The AFCA has more than 11,000 members from all levels of the profession.

Returning members of the AFCA Board of Trustees include incoming president Bill Cronin of Georgetown College (Ky.), first vice-president Frank Solich of Ohio University, second vice-president Gary Patterson of TCU and third vice-president Pete Fredenburg of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Also serving on the Board in 2018 are: Turner Gill, Liberty University; Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern University; Craig Bohl, University of Wyoming; Bronco Mendenhall, University of Virginia; Todd Knight, Ouachita Baptist University; David Cutcliffe, Duke University; Jeff McMartin, Central College (Iowa); Ken Niamatalolo, U.S. Naval Academy; Dan Mullen, University of Florida; Blake Anderson, Arkansas State University; Danny Rocco, University of Delaware; Paul Winters, Wayne State University (Mich.); Danny Pearman, Clemson University, ex officio member and chairman of the Assistant Coaches Committee; Van Malone, Southern Methodist University, ex officio member and chairman of the Minority Issues Committee; Michael Christensen, Lakewood (Calif.) High School, ex officio member and chairman of the High School Committee; and Mark McElroy, Saddleback College, ex officio member and Junior College representative. AFCA Executive Director Todd Berry serves as secretary-treasurer of the organization.

Shaw completed his seventh season as the head coach of his alma mater by leading the Cardinal to a 9-5 record, a Pac-12 North Division title and an appearance in the Alamo Bowl. He has an overall record of 73-22 with three Pac-12 championships and two wins in the Rose Bowl. Stanford has won at least 11 games four times and had at least 10 wins five times under Shaw, while also going to a bowl game every year he has been the head coach. He has been named Pac-12 Coach of the Year four times and AFCA Regional Coach of the Year three times. Shaw began his coaching career in 1995 at Western Washington, serving as outside linebackers coach, then tight ends coach in 1996 before embarking on a nine-year stint in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles, Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens. He returned to the college ranks in 2006 as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach at the University of San Diego under head coach Jim Harbaugh. Shaw followed Harbaugh to Stanford in 2007 as offensive coordinator, a position he held for four years before being named head coach in 2011.

Littrell led the Mean Green to a 9-5 record in 2017 with an appearance in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and set several offensive records along the way. North Texas broke single-season program records for points (497), passing TDs (32) and total offense (6,366 yards), to name a few. He has a 14-13 record in Denton through his first two seasons after guiding North Texas to its seventh nine-win season in school history in 2017. Littrell is only the second coach in program history to lead his team to bowls in back-to-back seasons. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Kansas from 2002 to 2004 before spending four years at Texas Tech as the running backs coach. In 2009, Littrell went to Arizona as running backs coach, then moved up to offensive coordinator his last two years with the Wildcasts. He spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons at Indiana as the offensive coordinator, then two years at North Carolina as assistant head coach for offense before being named head coach at North Texas in 2016.

Klieman finished his fourth season as the head coach at North Dakota State by guiding the Bison to a 14-1 record, a fourth straight Missouri Valley Football Conference title and a third FCS National Championship in 2017. He has a 54-6 record at NDSU and an overall record of 57-13 when you include his one season as the head coach at Loras. Klieman has been a part of six FCS national titles and seven MVFC championships since he came to NDSU in 2011 as the defensive backs coach. He moved up to defensive coordinator for 2012 and 2013 before being named head coach in 2014. Klieman began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Northern Iowa in 1991. After three seasons, he moved on to Western Illinois from 1994 to 1996, then spent one season apiece at Kansas and Missouri State. He joined the Loras staff as the defensive coordinator in 2002 and held that position until 2004. After one season as the head coach at Loras in 2005, Klieman returned to Northern Iowa as the defensive backs coach. He would spend the next five seasons with the Panthers, serving as defensive coordinator his last three years.