Karn Named AFCA NAIA First Team All-American

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. - Baker linebacker Canon Karn was selected to the 2023 American Football Coaches Association NAIA Coaches' All-America Team, earning a first-team selection as the organizations announced their postseason lists on Wednesday.

Karn ranked second nationally with eight interceptions this season, leading a Wildcats defense that forced the most interceptions in the NAIA this year with 25 total interceptions. Karn also had two fumble recoveries with his first one resulting in one of Baker's six defensive touchdowns on the year.

The junior from Holton, Kan. started all 12 games for BU and recorded 87 total tackles with one sack, while helping the Wildcats to hold opposing teams to seven or fewer points in four games this season. He was named the Heart South Defensive Player of the Year after Baker earned a share of the conference regular-season title, finishing as Heart South Tri-Champions.

Going 9-3 overall in their first year under head coach Miguel Regalado, Karn and the Wildcats closed out a 2023 season that saw them win eight or more games for the 10th time in the past 12 years and reach the NAIA playoffs for the 20th time in school history.

Karn becomes the latest Wildcat to earn All-American honors as it marks the 10th straight year that a Baker player has received the postseason accolade. He follows former Wildcats Mitchell Henry (2022), JD Woods (2019, 2020-21, 2021), Nate McLaurin (2018), Josh Kock (2016, 2017), Logan Brettell (2016), Cornell Brown (2016), Clarence Clark (2015, 2016), Darrain Winston (2016), Tucker Pauley (2015) and Sheldon Jacks (2014) as the BU players to receive the honor since 2014.

The AFCA has selected an All-America team since 1945 and currently selects teams in all five of its divisions. What makes these teams so special is that they are the only ones chosen exclusively by the men who know the players the best — the coaches themselves.

The AFCA's NAIA All-America Selection Committee is made up of two head coaches from each of the AFCA's seven districts, one of whom serves as a district chairman, along with another head coach who serves as the chairman of the selection committee. The coaches in each district are responsible for ranking the top players in their respective districts prior to a conference call between the district chairmen and the committee chairman on which the team is chosen.

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