Some of the best coaches in college football are listed on the Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List, including 5 from the SEC who are among 13 representing teams who are scheduled to play during the fall season.
Utah’s Kyle Whittingham won last year’s award.
The Dodd Trophy organization said it’s college football’s most coveted national coaching award, and celebrates the head coach of a team who enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity – the three pillars of legendary coach Bobby Dodd’s coaching philosophy.
“An unprecedented season calls for an unprecedented preseason watch list,” said Jim Terry, chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. “When considering candidates for this year’s Dodd Trophy, the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation made the decision to align with the College Football Playoff’s timeline and only consider coaches who will play during the fall season. That said, we still would like to recognize coaches from other conferences who met all of the criteria and under normal circumstances would be included on our list.”
The selection process takes into consideration each program’s graduation rate, commitment to service and charity in the community, projected success for the 2020 season and Academic Progress Rate.
Coaches in the first year with their current team are ineligible to receive The Dodd Trophy and only those coaches who have played during the fall season will be eligible for this year’s award.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
