The American Football Coaches Association announced their All-America Team yesterday, and Golden Tate’s name kicked it off. Tate’s 18 touchdowns and nearly 1,500 receiving yards were good enough to place him opposite of Cincinnati’s Marty Gilyard as first team wideouts.
Tate is the first Irish football player to be named first team since cornerback Shane Walton was named as first team cornerback in 2002.
Here’s the rest of the AFCA All-American team:
2009 AFCA Coaches’ All-America Team
Offense
| Pos. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| WR | Golden Tate | 5-11 | 195 | Jr. | Notre Dame | Charlie Weis | Hendersonville, Tenn. (Pope John Paul II) |
| WR | Mardy Gilyard | 6-1 | 187 | Sr. | Cincinnati | Brian Kelly | Bunnell, Fla. (Flagler Palm Coast) |
| TE | Dennis Pitta | 6-5 | 247 | Sr. | BYU | Bronco Mendenhall | Moorpark, Calif. (Moorpark) |
| OL | Mike Johnson | 6-6 | 305 | Sr. | Alabama | Nick Saban | Pensacola, Fla. (Pine Crest) |
| OL | Russell Okung | 6-5 | 300 | Sr. | Oklahoma St. | Mike Gundy | Houston, Texas (Bush) |
| C | Chris Hall | 6-4 | 295 | Sr. | Texas | Mack Brown | Irving, Texas (Irving) |
| OL | Trent Williams | 6-5 | 315 | Sr. | Oklahoma | Bob Stoops | Longview, Texas (Longview) |
| OL | Mike Iupati | 6-6 | 330 | Sr. | Idaho | Robb Akey | Anaheim, Caiif. (Western) |
| QB | Colt McCoy | 6-2 | 210 | Sr. | Texas | Mack Brown | Tuscola, Texas (Jim Ned) |
| RB | Mark Ingram | 5-10 | 215 | So. | Alabama | Nick Saban | Flint, Mich. (Southwestern) |
| RB | Toby Gerhart | 6-1 | 235 | Sr. | Stanford | Jim Harbaugh | Norco, Calif. (Norco) |
| Pos. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| DL | Ndamukong Suh | 6-4 | 300 | Sr. | Nebraska | Bo Pelini | Portland, Ore. (Grant) |
| DL | Jerry Hughes | 6-3 | 257 | Sr. | TCU | Gary Patterson | Sugar Land, Texas (Austin) |
| DL | Jared Odrick | 6-5 | 296 | Sr. | Penn St. | Joe Paterno | Lebanon, Pa. (Lebanon) |
| DL | Derrick Morgan | 6-4 | 272 | Jr. | Georgia Tech | Paul Johnson | Coatesville, Pa. (Coatesville) |
| DL | Brian Price | 6-2 | 300 | Jr. | UCLA | Rick Neuheisel | Los Angeles, Calif. (Crenshaw) |
| LB | Rolando McClain | 6-4 | 258 | Jr. | Alabama | Nick Saban | Decatur, Ala. (Decatur) |
| LB | Greg Jones | 6-1 | 228 | Jr. | Michigan St. | Mark Dantonio | Cincinnati, Ohio (Moeller) |
| DB | Eric Berry* | 5-11 | 195 | Jr. | Tennessee | Lane Kiffin | Fairburn, Ga. (Creekside) |
| DB | Joe Haden | 5-11 | 190 | Jr. | Florida | Urban Meyer | Fort Washington, Md. (Friendly) |
| DB | Javier Arenas | 5-9 | 198 | Sr. | Alabama | Nick Saban | Tampa, Fla. (Robinson) |
| DB | Earl Thomas | 5-10 | 197 | So. | Texas | Mack Brown | Orange, Texas (West Orange Stark) |
| Pos. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Cl. | School | Coach | Hometown (High School) |
| P | Drew Butler | 6-2 | 203 | So. | Georgia | Mark Richt | Duluth, Ga. (Peachtree Ridge) |
| PK | Kai Forbath | 6-0 | 192 | Jr. | UCLA | Rick Neuheisel | Pacific Palisades, Calif. (Notre Dame) |
| AP | C.J. Spiller | 5-11 | 195 | Sr. | Clemson | Dabo Swinney | Lake Butler, Fla. (Union County) |
*-2008 All-American