Tag: Dodd Trophy

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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Marcus Freeman named to Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List

Congrats, Marcus!

Even though he’s only in his second full season as Notre Dame coach, expectations remain high for [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag]. In fact, the high expectations for the 2023 Irish put him on everyone’s radar. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s one of 21 coaches to be named to the Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List. No coaching award is bigger in college football.

During the season, there will be a midseason watch list differing from the preseason list to some degree. There will be a final list at the end of the regular season before the winner is announced at the Peach Bowl as it always is. Brian Kelly is the lone Irish coach to earn this hardware, doing so in 2018.

The following coaches who also are on the watch list will face the Irish in 2023: Dabo Swinney of Clemson, Ryan Day of Ohio State, Dave Clawson of Wake Forest and Dave Doeren of NC State.

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Josh Heupel named Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week

Josh Heupel named Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week following Alabama win.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel has been named the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week.

Tennessee (6-0, 3-0 SEC) defeated Alabama (6-1, 3-1 SEC), 52-49, at Neyland Stadium in Week 7.

The Dodd Trophy press release:

Officials from the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl today announced that Tennessee head football coach Josh Heupel has been selected as The Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week presented by PNC.

The Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week award honors a football coach who led his team to a significant victory during the previous week, while also embodying the award’s three pillars of scholarship, leadership and integrity.

Now coaching his second season in Knoxville, Josh Heupel led the Volunteers to a 52-49 victory over No. 3 Alabama on Saturday for the program’s first win over the Crimson Tide since 2006. With 15 seconds remaining, Tennessee drove the ball 45 yards in three plays, setting up a Chase McGrath game winning 40-yard field goal. Tennessee was led offensively by wide receiver Jalin Hyatt, who finished with five receiving touchdowns, setting a new program record.

The Volunteers scored their most points ever in the 105-game series, improving to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the SEC. Tennessee has now defeated four ranked teams for the first time in a regular season since 1998 when the Volunteers went on to win the BCS National Championship. The Volunteers moved up to No. 3 in the most recent AP poll after the win.

“This was a statement win for Coach Heupel and the Tennessee football program,” said Jim Terry, chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. “This is the type of challenge that Coach Dodd would have relished, rallying his team for a crucial win over a top-10 conference rival.”

Heupel was named the 27th head football coach of the Volunteers in January 2021. After inheriting a team that went 3-7, Heupel led the Volunteers to a 7-6 record in his first season at the helm. Before his time in Knoxville, he served as head coach at UCF for three seasons from 2018-2020, compiling a 28-8 record and winning an American Athletic Conference title in 2018. Heupel also spent time at Oklahoma (2004, 2006-14), Arizona (2005), Utah State (2015) and Missouri (2016-17) in various assistant coaching roles.

In the classroom, Tennessee has earned an impressive 84 Graduation Success Rate among its student-athletes, along with a 944 Academic Progress Rate.

In the community, Heupel and Tennessee head baseball coach Tony Vitello recently teamed up on campus in April to support the Wounded Warriors Project. Heupel and his student-athletes also took a trip to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital later that month, in efforts to support and give back to the local community.

“Having someone like Coach Heupel leading your program has already paid dividends for Tennessee,” said Gary Stokan, CEO and President of Peach Bowl, Inc. “He has prepared his student-athletes for adversity both on the field and in the classroom, turning them into better men and football players.”

The Dodd Trophy presented by PNC– along with the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week Award – celebrates the head coach of a FBS team who enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity.

A panel consisting of all previous winners, national media, a member of the Dodd family and a College Football Hall of Fame member will identify the final list of potential recipients at the conclusion of the 2022 season. The winner of the 2022 Dodd Trophy will be announced in Atlanta during the week of the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

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Kirk Ferentz named to the Dodd Trophy preseason watch list

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz is one of 20 coaches named to the preseason watch list for the prestigious Dodd Trophy.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz is getting some recognition ahead of the season.

Ferentz was one of 20 coaches listed on the Dodd Trophy watch list. The Dodd Trophy is the premier award for coaching, awarded to the head coach of a team who enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership, and integrity.

Those are the three pillars of legendary coach Bobby Dodd’s coaching philosophy. The selection process considers team success, each program’s graduation rate, commitment to service and charity in the community, projected success for the 2022 season, and Academic Progress Rate (APR). The recipient of the award is named during halftime of the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl.

Entering his 24th year, the longest tenure of any college football coach, Ferentz has won the award once in 2015. Last year’s winner was Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell. Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald also won the award the year prior.

Only two coaches have ever won the award twice, Bill Snyder of Kansas State (1998 and 2002) and Penn State‘s Joe Paterno (1981 and 2005). Ferentz is looking to become the third.

The 19 coaches joining Ferentz on the preseason list is a real who’s who of college football’s elite. Fellow Big Ten coaches Paul Chryst (Wisconsin), Ryan Day (Ohio State), Jim Harbaugh (Michigan), and Mel Tucker (Michigan State) join Ferentz on the list.

Alabama‘s Nick Saban, Georgia‘s Kirby Smart, and Baylor’s Dave Aranda also appear on the list. Don’t forget about last year’s winner Luke Fickell of Cincinnati who makes an appearance on the preseason watch list as well.

While one of the winningest coaches in Big Ten history, Ferentz doesn’t always get the recognition he deserves by the media. Ferentz is consistently ranked below fellow Big Ten coaches and even cross-town rivals.

He doesn’t always get the credit he deserves for how consistent Iowa football is both on and off the field. It is great to see Ferentz placed on the watchlist for such a prestigious award as a symbol of recognition not just of him but of Iowa football in general.

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Ryan Day on 2022 Dodd preseason watchlist for college football coach of the year

You have to think that Day has a good shot at taking this award home in 2022. #GoBucks

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day would tell you that preseason accolades don’t mean anything, but he himself has made a prestigious preseason watchlist that was released on Tuesday.

The Bobby Todd Coach of the Year Award is handed out annually to the FBS college football coach “whose team excels on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.” It is handed out by the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and has been around since 1976. Ryan Day is one of 20 names appearing on the preseason Dodd watchlist for 2022.

Day, entering his fourth full season as the coach of Ohio State, has an overall record of 34-4, has lost just one Big Ten game, has two Big Ten championships, and two College Football Playoff appearances. He has a team coming back that is expected to compete for the ultimate prize and is one of the bright, young, offensive minds in the game.

Jim Tressel is the only Ohio State coach to win the award back in 2002. This year’s recipient will be announced at halftime of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on December 31.

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Mel Tucker picked as Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week after win over UM

Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker has been selected as the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week

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Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker has been selected as the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week.

Tucker’s Spartans picked up an impressive victory over previously-No. 6 Michigan this past weekend to remain undefeated on the season. Michigan State trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half before coming back to win by a score of 37-33.

The Dodd Trophy is handed out at the end of the year to the best college football coach for the season. Tucker certainly will be part of that conversation if Michigan State continues to win.

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