Tag: Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year

Brent Venables named to watch list for prestigious coaching award

After a 6-0 start and top-10 ranking, Oklahoma’s Brent Venables was named to an illustrious award’s watch list. Here are some of the best photos of the Sooners head coach.

[autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and his coaching staff has the Oklahoma Sooners off to a great start in the 2023 season. They’re 6-0 and a top 10 team in both the US LBM Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25.

That start to the season has Venables in the running for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards Coach of the Year. He was named to the watch list on Wednesday.

Last year, Sonny Dykes was awarded with the award named after the legendary college football coach. In 2021, the award went to Luke Fickell.

Venables 2023 season is a far cry from what the Sooners put on the field in 2022 when they went 6-7 and struggled to stop anyone in Big 12 play. Last year, the Sooners’ defense allowed 30 points per game. In 2023, they’re allowing just 14 points per game, which ranks No. 6 in the nation.

In Oklahoma’s national championship season in 2000, [autotag]Bob Stoops[/autotag] was honored with the Coach of the Year award. Brent Venables was a co-defensive coordinator on that staff. Though there are some parallels between that 2000 team and this one, the Sooners have a long way to go before contending for the College Football Playoff and the national championship.

The Sooners have some of the best odds to win the national title, but Venables and his staff will tell you, they’re simply focused on UCF this Saturday. If Oklahoma takes care of business on their end, they’ll be in a position to, as Venables put it, “hang a banner” at the end of the season.

Still, being named to the watch list midway through the season, is a sign that the nation is taking notice of the year-to-year turnaround that’s happening at Oklahoma.

There’s only one thing left to do. Win the whole thing.

Here are some of the best pictures of Brent Venables’ time at Oklahoma.

Ryan Day makes Watch List for Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant Coach of the Year Award

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has made it onto the Watch List for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award.

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It’s way too early to get excited about these sorts of things, but as the Ohio State football season hits its midway point (believe it or not), head coach Ryan Day has made it onto a pretty significant Watch List.

On Wednesday, the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award announced its Watch List for coach of the year, and Day is among the 24 names to follow.

It’s hard to get a gauge on what type of job Day has done on the field thus far with only three games under his belt, but he did an outstanding job steering the program and conference through all the uncertainty of a fall football season. His leadership within his team and with the Big Ten had a big impact on the conference reinstating the season. More than anything he fought for his players and allowed them to have a voice in all that was going on.

Day has also embraced measures put in place for the coronavirus pandemic and has been a supporting voice towards social injustice.

The Award has been handed out annually since 1957 as the College Football Coach of the Year Award, but renamed to honor Bryant in 1986. The American Heart Association recognizes the honoree and it all culminates with a ceremony and banquet in Houston, TX in January each year.

Jim Tressel is the only Ohio State coach to win the award. He did it back in 2002 when the Buckeyes went 14-0, capped off by a stunning upset of the Miami Hurricanes for the national championship.

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