Lincoln Riley was named to the Bobby Dodd Trophy watch list on Thursday. The award, named for the legendary Goergia Tech head coach, has annually honors the nation’s best head coach since 1976.
Riley is joined on the watch list by Dabo Swinner, Luke Fickell, Nick Sabam, Gus Malzahn, Tom Herman, Dan Mullen, Bronco Mendenhall, Brian Kelly, Kirby Smart, Mack Brown and Ed Orgerson. Also present is former OU quarterback and assistant coach Josh Heupel.
The last Big 12 coach to win the award was Bill Synder in 2012. The last OU coach to win was Bob Stoops in 2003.
The 2020 #DoddTrophy Preseason watch list is here!
This year's list features 1⃣3⃣ of the nation's top coaches who will be playing during the fall season.
📰 https://t.co/NfFWxMQpL2 pic.twitter.com/CJ7wAl28gr
— The Dodd Trophy (@thedoddtrophy) September 3, 2020
Besides being one of the most successful coaches in college football in terms of winning percentage, Riley is also constantly exhibiting incredible leadership ability.
Last week, Riley led the entire football team in a march across campus in protest of ongoing racial injustice issues across America, delivered a speech at the end of the march, and worked with the team to get every player registered to vote. You can watch the demonstration here.
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