James Franklin named to coach of the year watch list
Penn State head coach James Franklin is gearing up for a season that many expect to be the best season of the College Football Playoff era. High expectations with a stacked roster returning from a deep playoff run have surrounded Franklin's program this offseason, and the national preseason polls may soon show just what the expectations are for the Nittany Lions. Not surprisingly, Franklin has landed on a preseason watch list for coach of the year amid the offseason hype train.
Franklin was one of the coaches named to this year's watch list for the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl committee. A total of 26 head coaches are named to the list. To be eligible for the award, a coach must be in at least the second year with his current program and have an APR score with the program above the national average of 969.
Franklin is one of five Big Ten coaches named to the watch list. Other Big Ten coaches appearing on the list include Bret Bielema of Illinois, Curt Cignetti of Indiana, Ryan Day of Ohio State, and Dan Lanning of Oregon.
Former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno is one of two coaches to win multiple Bobby Dodd Awards. Paterno won the award in the 1981 and 2005 seasons. Bill Snyder of Kansas State later become the second two-time winner with the award in 1998 and 2012. Paterno is the only Dodd Coach of the Year in Penn State program history.
Last year's winner of the Dodd Coach of the Year was Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame. The last Big Ten coach to win the award was Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern in 2020. Other notable winners have included Kyle Whittingham of Utah, Brian Kelly at Notre Dame, Kirk Ferentz of Iowa, Nick Saban of Alabama, and Dabo Swinney of Clemson.
You can see the full watch list for this year's Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year award in the official announcement.
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