Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award facts for kids

The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award is a special prize given each year in college football. It honors a top head coach whose team does great things. This includes winning games on the field. But it also means their players do well in school. And they help out in their local community.

The award is named after Bobby Dodd. He was a famous football coach at Georgia Tech for many years. The award started in 1976. It celebrates the good values Bobby Dodd showed. A group of football experts and past winners choose the new winner. The announcement happens during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl game. Later, a special event is held at the winner's university. Coaches who won in the last two years cannot win again right away. Also, coaches in their first year at a new team cannot win.

Award Winners

Some coaches have won this award more than once. Bill Snyder from Kansas State University won it twice. He won in 1998 and again in 2012. Joe Paterno from Penn State also won it twice. His wins were in 1981 and 2005.

Eight different schools have had two different coaches win the award. These schools include Alabama and Michigan. Air Force and Georgia Tech also have two winners. Other schools are Northwestern, TCU, and Duke. Most recently, Florida State had two winners. Bobby Bowden won in 1980 and Mike Norvell won in 2023.