CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Football senior Austin Gentle and assistant head coach Mickey Fein were both announced as 2024 award recipients by The Gridiron Club of Greater Boston on Thanksgiving afternoon. Gentle was the FBS/FCS honoree for the 78^th Annual Nils V. "Swede" Nelson Award, while Fein was the club's FBS/FCS choice for its 25^th Annual Assistant Coach of the Year Award.
 
A native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Gentle was named this season's honoree for the Nelson Award, which recognizes the one FBS/FCS player for excellence in athletics, academics and sportsmanship. A 2024 All-Ivy League Second-Team offensive lineman, Gentle was part of an offense that was among the best nationally, ranking ninth in the FCS in passing yards per completion, 15^th in passing offense and 33^rd in total offense. Gentle is the first Crimson player to receive this award since kicker Jake McIntyre in 2019.
 
Fein, who is Harvard's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, was named the area's top FBS/FCS assistant coach after a season in which he successfully directed an offense that was one of the most feared in the FCS. Featuring different looks with QB Jaden Craig and quarterback/athlete Charles DePrima, who were both second-team all-Ivy picks, the offense never missed a beat, producing all-conference first-team wide receiver Cooper Barkate and offensive lineman Mike Entwistle, second-team selections Gentle and tight end Seamus Gilmartin, and honorable mention performers Xaviah Bascon (RB) and Scott Woods II (WR). Fein is the third Harvard assistant to capture the award and first since 2021 (2013 – Scott Larkee '99, 2021 – Jon Poppe).
 
Harvard finished its season with an 8-2 record (5-2 Ivy) and was the first team to clinch at least a share of the 2024 conference title before Dartmouth and Columbia earned a piece of the crown. The Crimson, which posted an 8-win campaign for the third time in the last four years, ended the regular season ranked No. 25 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 Poll after rising to as high as No. 17. Harvard now has 19 Ivy League titles to its credit after winning back-to-back championships.