Tag: Dodd Trophy

Marcus Freeman named one of five finalists for Dodd Trophy

He deserves this for sure.

Notre Dame easily could have folded after its shocking loss to Northern Illinois in its home opener. Instead, [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] got the Irish back on track, and they haven’t lost since. That put the Irish in the College Football Playoff, and Freeman’s reward was a contract extension that locked him up for the next six years.

Now, Freeman has another reward coming his way. He has been named one of five finalists for the Dodd Award, which is given to the coach whose team best excels on the field, in the community and in the classroom. This is his first time making the final cut alongside all the other finalists, consisting of Army’s Jeff Monken, Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham, Oregon’s Dan Lanning and South Carolina’s Shane Beamer.

Brian Kelly is the lone Irish coach to win this award, doing so in 2018. Given the current environment, it’s very likely Irish fans would be much happier seeing Freeman win it.

Here’s Freeman news conference this past week in case you missed it:

Obviously, the real goal is a national championship, but this is a nice one to have at the moment.

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James Franklin named to coach of the year watchlist

Find out what coach of the year watchlist James Franklin was named to

The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and the Peach Bowl announced Monday afternoon that [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] made their watchlist of coaches.

Franklin is among 21 of the country’s top coaches from all Power Four conferences appearing on the watch list. The Dodd Trophy is college football’s “most coveted national coaching award and is given to the coach who enjoys success on the field while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity.”

The three pillars represent Bobby Dodd’s coaching philosophy.

Franklin is joined by fellow Big Ten coaches Ryan Day (Ohio State), Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), and Lincoln Riley (USC). Last year’s winning Mike Norvell of Florida State is also on this year’s watchlist.

Franklin would seem to have as good a chance as any, considering the quality of his program in Happy Valley.

A midseason watchlist will be revealed in the fall, narrowing the field. After the conclusion of the 2024 season, a panel will identify the final contenders. The 2024 Dodd Trophy winner will be announced in the run-up to the Peach Bowl.

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Dan Lanning left off of 2024 Dodd Coach of the Year Trophy Watchlist

Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning was surprisingly not on the watch list for the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Year award.

If you’re making a list of the best 21 coaches in the world of college football, it’s going to be pretty hard not to put Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning on there.

However, the Dodd Trophy, the most coveted national coach award honor in the NCAA, released their preseason watchlist on Monday morning, and Lanning was nowhere to be found.

There is a stipulation that coaches in their first year with their current teams are not eligible, which explains why someone like Kalen DeBoer or Jedd Fisch is off of the list, but it’s hard to find a reason for why Lanning is not on there.

Here’s who was on the preseason watchlist:

Coach School Conference APR (2022-23)
Jeff Brohm Louisville ACC 982
Mario Cristobal Miami (FL) ACC 1000
Ryan Day Ohio State Big Ten 1000
Dave Doeren NC State ACC 984
Eliah Drinkwitz Mizzou SEC 997
Kirk Ferentz Iowa Big Ten 993
James Franklin Penn State Big Ten 959
Marcus Freeman Notre Dame Independent 1000
Mike Gundy Oklahoma State Big 12 965
Josh Heupel Tennessee SEC 965
Brian Kelly LSU SEC 977
Lane Kiffin Ole Miss SEC 993
Chris Klieman Kansas State Big 12 1000
Lance Leipold Kansas Big 12 1000
Mike Norvell Florida State ACC 997
Brent Pry Virginia Tech ACC 990
Lincoln Riley USC Big Ten 987
Steve Sarkisian Texas SEC 997
Kirby Smart Georgia SEC 972
Dabo Swinney Clemson ACC 997
Kyle Whittingham Utah Big 12 971

Of course, the APR, or Academic Progress Rate, score for the Oregon Ducks may be the biggest factor. Oregon’s score of 941 is the worst in the Big Ten Conference, and the lowest Oregon has had since the 2009-10 season.

The lowest score of any coach on the watchlist is James Franklin, with Penn State’s score of 959.

That may be the only reason that Lanning is not on the list because he certainly stacks up alongside the rest of the nominees in coaching acumen on the field.

The Dodd Trophy will announce a midseason watchlist in a few months, either adding to or narrowing the field down as they try to identify the eventual winner.

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Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian named to the 2024 Dodd Trophy watch list

Texas’s Steve Sarkisian named to Preseason Dodd Trophy Watch List for nation’s Coach of the Year Award

The Dodd Coach of the Year Award is presented annually to a college football coach whose team excels on the field, in the classroom, and in their community. The award is named after Georgia Tech legend Bobby Dodd who exemplified all three components and was first presented in 1976 when ironically Georgia Bulldog’s Vince Dooley was named the first winner.

In the award’s history, there have only been two multiple-time winners: Kansas State’s Bill Snyder and Penn State’s Joe Paterno. Mack Brown is the only Texas Longhorns head coach to have won the award in 2008. However, Steve Sarkisian hopes to bring the award back to the Forty Acres in 2024 as he has been named to the Preseason Watch List.

Sarkisian would become the first winner from the SEC since Nick Saban did it with the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2014. Mike Norvell of the Florida State Seminoles was the winner in 2023.

Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman makes Dodd Trophy preseason watch list

Hope he stays in the conversation.

There’s no question Notre Dame coach [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] will feel the pressure to excel in 2024. Depending on how well he’s able to do that, a lot of people might have their eyes on him for all the right reasons.

We don’t know how Freeman’s season will go, but we do know at least some people have an idea. They think he’ll do well. Otherwise, Freeman wouldn’t have been one of 21 names on the preseason watch list for the Dodd Trophy, which is given annually to the country’s top coach. Brian Kelly, also on this year’s list for LSU, was the lone winner for the Irish in 2018.

This season, Freeman will coach against three others who made the watch list. They are USC’s Lincoln Riley, Louisville’s Jeff Brohm and Florida State’s Mike Norvell. That means Freeman should have the advantage in most games this season, at least on paper. We’ll see how well that translates in the actual games.

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Ohio State head coach Ryan Day earns national recognition after defeat of Notre Dame

Congrats coach Day! Well deserved! #GoBucks

Now that it is over, [autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag]’s gutsy win against Notre Dame was really fun to watch.

The stress of a big game is over, the collective sigh of relief could have been heard from anywhere in Columbus when running back [autotag]Chip Trayanum[/autotag] barely got into the end zone for the winning score.

Following the game, Buckeyes head coach [autotag]Ryan Day[/autotag] went off on the doubters, one very specifically, and rightfully so. His team had just won a game many believed they couldn’t, a physical contest.

The win earned Day some national recognition on Monday, as the [autotag]Dodd Trophy[/autotag] named him their national coach of the week.

In the release, the chairman of the Dodd foundation Jim Terry said coach Day “had his team prepared to fight to the very last second a pull out a huge road victory against a top-10 opponent.”

The Buckeye coach got plenty of peoples attention this weekend. Congrats coach Day!

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Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman is Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week

Congrats, Coach!

Notre Dame played the Week 0 game with the highest profile and won in convincing fashion. The 42-3 win over Navy signaled to everybody that the Irish will be a team worthy of paying attention to if for no reason than the offense looks better. But regardless of why the team played well, people indeed having taken notice. And it’s why [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] has been named the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week.

Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation chairman Jim Terry said the following:

“This was a dominating win for coach Freeman and the Irish to begin the 2023 season. Coach Dodd loved defensive football, and Freeman already had the defensive unit in mid-season form, holding Navy’s offense to just three points and 169 yards.”

We don’t know if Freeman will end up winning the Dodd Trophy or even be a finalist. Still, having this honor after the first game is something he can be proud about as the season continues.

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Brent Venables named to Dodd Trophy watch list

Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables named to Dodd Trophy Watch List.

We’ve hit the point of the summer where award watch lists are going to be coming out just about every day.

Oklahoma Head Coach Brent Venables is up first as he was named to the 2023 Dodd Trophy preseason watch list.

The trophy is named for legendary Georgia Tech coach Bobby Dodd. The Dodd Trophy was established in 1976 to honor the FBS football coach whose program represents three pillars of success: Scholarship, Leadership, and Integrity. The award honors the coach of a team with a successful season on the field and, equally as important, stresses the importance of academic excellence and the desire to give back to the community.

It’s to be determined if the Sooners will have a successful season on the field, but since Venables has taken over, the Sooners have excelled off of it.

Venables said at Big 12 Media Days, they had the highest GPA in program history.

That’s a big reason why so many people are a believer in Venables. Becoming a great head coach, it’s much more than just winning games.

While that is the most important thing and the thing that will determine your job status, the off-the-field stuff matters.

It was so eye-opening to hear Venables talk about players not going to class or doing things they need to be doing off the field to be successful when he arrived in Norman.

That’s the kind of stuff that doesn’t get talked about enough, and when you are winning, it’s overlooked. When a head coach is talking to the parents of a prospective athlete, highlighting the academic success and community involvement of his team can go a long way to putting a parent’s mind at ease about their choice of University. 

Though Oklahoma hasn’t had the on-field success to tout in recruiting battles, the culture of excellence that Venables and his staff are creating off the field with the help of the S.O.U.L. Mission has moved the needle among prospects and their families.

If Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners are able to improve to a nine or 10-win season on the field, the off-field success will help give the Sooners head coach an opportunity to take home the illustrious award. 

If he did that, he’d be only the second coach to do that in program history, joining Bob Stoops, who won it in 2003.

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Nick Saban named to Dodd Trophy preseason watch list

Nick Saban named to the prestigious Dodd Trophy preseason watch list!

On Thursday, it was announced that Alabama’s [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] had been named to the Dodd Trophy preseason watch list.

The Dodd Trophy celebrates the head coach of a team who not only enjoys success on the field, but also emphasizes the importance of scholarship, leadership, and integrity, the three pillars of legendary Georgia Tech coach Bobby Dodd’s coaching philosophy. The award considers each program’s graduation rate, Graduation Success Rate, commitment to service and charity in the community, projected success for the 2023 season, and Academic Progress Rate.

Coach Saban previously won the prestigious award in 2014 and was the last coach from the SEC to take home the honor.

Arkansas’s Sam Pittman is the only other SEC coach to land on the Dodd Trophy preseason watch list.

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Was James Franklin snubbed by preseason coach of the year watch list?

Was James Franklin snubbed on the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Year preseason watch list?

Is [autotag]James Franklin[/autotag] one of the nation’s top 21 head football coaches entering the 2023 college football season? Not according to the watch list released by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl on Thursday.

To be fair though, Franklin was not eligible to appear on the watch list, so perhaps we shouldn’t be too harsh in reacting to the release of this watch list. Franklin did not qualify to appear on the list because Penn State did not meet the APR minimum for a coach to be included on the watch list.

Coaches appearing on the Dodd Trophy Award watch list must have a program with an APR higher than 980. Penn State football’s most recent APR score came in at just 958, four points shy of the national average for football.

The APR scores can be impacted by transfer players, which has certainly not helped Penn State’s average score. Penn State does have a solid graduation success rate, however, typically comfortably above the national average.

As for this year’s Dodd Trophy watch list, Franklin had three wins against coaches on the list last season. Minnesota’s PJ Fleck, Michigan State’s Mel Tucker, and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham are all on the Dodd Trophy preseason watch list for the 2023 season. Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, and Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz are also on the list.

Franklin will still have a chance to be named the Dodd Trophy coach of the year this season, but he will have to fight his way into the conversation after starting the season off the watch list.

NEXT: See the full list of the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Year preseason watch list.

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