JERSEY CITY, N.J.—South Dakota senior linebacker Jack Cochrane was named to the HERO Sports' FCS All-American Team announced Tuesday. He is the first Coyote linebacker to earn all-America honors since Tyler Starr in 2013.
 
In addition, defensive lineman Nick Gaes was named to HERO Sports' Freshman All-American Team. It is the third season in a row that at least one Coyote has been named to the team.
 
Cochrane, who hails from Mount Vernon, Iowa, was named Missouri Valley Football Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year earlier Tuesday. The awards come following a season in which Cochrane led the Coyotes with 103 tackles including 2.0 sacks and 10.0 tackles-for-loss. He was the only Valley player with four interceptions during conference play, and led South Dakota back to the FCS playoffs for the second time in his career. Cochrane's 327 career tackles are sixth-most in program history.
 
Gaes is a third-year freshman from Alta, Iowa. He led the Valley with 7.0 sacks (all solo) in Valley play and was third in the league with 8.0 tackles-for-loss. Gaes finished as the Coyotes' sixth-leading tackler with 33 stops. He also blocked a kick and led USD with seven quarterback hurries.
 
South Dakota finished with a 7-5 record including a program-best mark of 5-3 in Valley play.