The college football season is just around the corner. With the return of football comes the return of preseason watchlists.
The Dodd Trophy released a watchlist for the 2025 Coach of the Year on Monday.
As we enter our 50th anniversary season, we’re looking for exceptional candidates to join the storied fraternity of coaching greats who have previously won The Dodd Trophy,” Chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation Jim Terry said in a released statement. “Over the last half century, this award has always stood for more than just wins on the field, but also focuses on how coaches should embody leadership with their student-athletes in the classroom and throughout their communities. Keeping this in mind, we only consider coaches whose programs have earned the highest APRs and require coaches to have at least two years of experience leading their current programs, so that they have had time to establish a precedent at their universities, both on and off the field.
The SEC leads all conferences with 8 coaches on the watchlist. Brian Kelly is one of 3 previous winners on the list, along with Marcus Freeman and Dabo Swinney. Freeman won the award for 2024. Coaches in their first season at a school are not considred for the watchlist.
For coaches to make the 2025 watchlist, their programs were required to have an Academic Progress Rate above the national average of 969. Here’s the full list:
| Coach | School | Conference | APR (2023-24) |
| Bret Bielema | Illinois | Big Ten | 980 |
| Jeff Brohm | Louisville | ACC | 989 |
| Curt Cignetti | Indiana | Big Ten | 982 |
| Mario Cristobal | Miami (FL) | ACC | 987 |
| Matt Campbell | Iowa State | Big 12 | 1000 |
| Spencer Danielson | Boise State | Mountain West | 994 |
| Ryan Day | Ohio State | Big Ten | 1000 |
| Kalen DeBoer | Alabama | SEC | 1000 |
| Kenny Dillingham | Arizona State | Big 12 | 983 |
| Eliah Drinkwitz | Mizzou | SEC | 993 |
| Mike Elko | Texas A&M | SEC | 974 |
| James Franklin | Penn State | Big Ten | 976 |
| Marcus Freeman | Notre Dame | Independent | 987 |
| Josh Heupel | Tennessee | SEC | 982 |
| Brian Kelly | LSU | SEC | 1000 |
| Brent Key | Georgia Tech | ACC | 991 |
| Chris Klieman | Kansas State | Big 12 | 997 |
| Dan Lanning | Oregon | Big Ten | 981 |
| Joey McGuire | Texas Tech | Big 12 | 997 |
| Jeff Monken | Army | AAC | 980 |
| Steve Sarkisian | Texas | SEC | 991 |
| Ryan Silverfield | Memphis | AAC | 973 |
| Kalani Sitake | BYU | Big 12 | 978 |
| Kirby Smart | Georgia | SEC | 1000 |
| Dabo Swinney | Clemson | ACC | 1000 |
| Brent Venables | Oklahoma | SEC | 993 |
The award will announce Coach of the Week honors throughout the season, beginning in September. A midseason watchlist will be revealed in the fall. The 2025 winner will be announced at the College Football Playoff Semifinal in Atlanta.
College Football’s most coveted coaching award.
— The Dodd Trophy (@thedoddtrophy) July 7, 2025
The 2025 Dodd Trophy Preseason Watchlist is here
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Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
