Paul "Bear" Bryant Award | |
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Awarded for | NCAA college football's national coach of the year |
Country | United States |
Presented by | National Sports Media Association |
First awarded | 1986 |
Currently held by | Dabo Swinney, Clemson |
Official website | http://www.bryantawards.com/ |
The Paul "Bear" Bryant Award is an award that has been given annually since 1986 to NCAA college football's national coach of the year. The Award was named in honor of longtime Alabama coach Bear Bryant after he died of a heart attack in 1983. It is voted on by the National Sports Media Association (formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association) and proceeds from the awards ceremony benefit the American Heart Association. The College Football Coach of the Year Award began in 1957 and was renamed for Bryant in 1986. Bryant himself won the AFCA Coach of the Year award in 1961, 1971, and 1973.
According to the official website:
The Paul "Bear" Bryant College Football Coaching Awards is an exclusive event that honors a college football coach whose great accomplishments, both on and off the field, are legendary. The award recognizes the masters of coaching and allows them to take their deserved place in history beside other legends like Bear Bryant.
Unlike many college football head coaching awards, it is presented after each season's bowl games.
2000 – Darrell Royal
2001 – Charles McClendon
2002 – Bill Yeoman
2003 – Frank Broyles
2004 – Gene Stallings
2005 – Lou Holtz
2006 – Jack Pardee
2007 – Bo Schembechler
2008 – Tom Osborne
2009 – Barry Switzer
2010 – Vince Dooley
2011 – Bobby Bowden
2012 – Hayden Fry
2013 – LaVell Edwards
2014 – R. C. Slocum
2015 – Jimmy Johnson
2016 – Mack Brown
2017 – Barry Alvarez