Coker Is Finalist National Coach of the Year
Dec. 20, 2001
HOUSTON – In a college football season filled with intrigue, interrogation of the status quo and indescribable drama, one indisputable fact exists: From the dog days of August practices, to the gut-wrenching final seconds of a rival showdown, each of the seven finalists named for the annual Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year award demonstrated the type of courage and perseverance that can only come from the heart.
The Houston Division of the American Heart Association today announced seven finalists for the award, as voted on by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Continuing this 44-year-old tradition, the winner will be chosen in a final round of balloting and named at an award dinner benefiting the American Heart Association on Jan. 17 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston.
The finalists, in alphabetical order, are: Gary Barnett, University of Colorado, Mike Bellotti, University of Oregon, Larry Coker, University of Miami, Ralph Friedgen, University of Maryland, Nick Saban, Louisiana State University, Frank Solich, University of Nebraska, and Ron Turner, University of Illinois.
Gary Barnett, Colorado (10-2) – In guiding the Buffaloes to their first Big 12 championship this season, Barnett has the Colorado program back to where it was when he served as an assistant during the Buffs’ national championship days more than a decade ago. By turning around Northwestern’s program in the 1990s, Barnett earned a reputation as a resurrector of once-proud programs. Under his tutelage, the Wildcats won two Big-10 titles and in 1995 earned their first bowl berth in nearly half a century. The 2001 season was a challenge for Barnett and the Buffaloes, with early losses at home to upstart Fresno State and on the road at Texas. However, a throttling of perennial power Nebraska in the final regular season game, and a revenge victory over Texas in the Big 12 championship game, gave many college football followers reason to believe the Buffaloes belonged in the national title game. Colorado will play Pac-10 champion Oregon in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Mike Bellotti, Oregon (10-1) – After just seven years at the helm, Bellotti has become arguably the most successful head coach in Oregon school history. This season, his Ducks won the Pac-10 Conference title and will face Big 12 champion Colorado in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day. This marks the fifth straight bowl berth for the Ducks and the sixth postseason invitation for Oregon in Bellotti’s seven years as head coach. Bellotti, who immediately brought Oregon’s program out of a 25-year funk upon taking the reigns in 1995, previously was the head coach at Chico State from 1984-88. He also had assistant coaching stints at UC-Davis, Cal State-Hayward and Weber State and Oregon.
Larry Coker, Miami (11-0) – In just his first season as a head coach, Coker has ushered in a new era of Miami football by leading the Hurricanes to their first national championship game berth in nearly a decade. The top-ranked ‘Canes will look to complete their undefeated season and capture a national title when they face Nebraska in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 3. A lifetime assistant with 22 of his 31 years at the collegiate level, Coker succeeded 2000 Bear Bryant finalist Butch Davis as head coach in February, marking the first time in 25 years that the school had elevated a current assistant to head coach. Coker’s background in coaching on both sides of the ball includes stints at such decorated programs as Ohio State and Oklahoma. He also helped to spearhead the turnaround of Tulsa’s program in the early 1980s and groomed a Heisman Trophy winner in Barry Sanders at Oklahoma State.
Ralph Friedgen, Maryland (10-1) – The Terrapins are coming off of a stellar season under the direction of Friedgen, the first-year skipper who is also the first alumnus of the program to serve as head coach in more than 30 years. Maryland, which will face Florida in the FedEx Orange Bowl on Jan. 2, will make its first Orange Bowl appearance in 46 years. The former architect of Georgia Tech’s high-powered offense and a former offensive assistant with the San Diego Chargers, Friedgen returned to his alma mater in 2001 and led the Terps to the ACC title, the program’s first bowl games in 11 years and recently picked up conference coach of the year honors. As an offensive coordinator in the mid-’80s, Friedgen helped Maryland capture three straight ACC titles before leaving with then-head coach Bobby Ross to coach at Georgia Tech.
Nick Saban, LSU (9-3) – Saban led the Tigers to their first outright SEC championship since 1986 and their first berth in the Bowl Championship Series with a victory over Tennessee in the SEC championship game in December. The Tigers will face Big-10 champion Illinois in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 1. Long revered in football coaching circles as one of the keen minds of the game, Saban has coached under some of the best football technicians in the country at both the college and professional levels. He rebuilt the Michigan State program, taking it from NCAA probation and scholarship limitations to top 10 rankings and New Year’s Day bowl games, and coached in the NFL under Bill Belichick at Cleveland and under Jerry Glanville at Houston. He is a prot?g? of George Perles at Michigan State and Earle Bruce at Ohio State. He got his start in football under venerable Washington coach Don James as a graduate assistant at Kent State.
Frank Solich, Nebraska (11-1) – Emerging from under the large, daunting shadow of legendary predecessor Tom Osborne, Solich has the Cornhuskers on the brink of their first national championship in his four years at the helm. Nebraska, which finished No. 2 in the Bowl Championship Series rankings, will face top-ranked Miami in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 3 in Pasadena, Calif, to continue the nation’s longest consecutive bowl berth streak, which now stands at 33 seasons. Solich led the Huskers to an 11-win season for the second time in his career and at 42-8 is tied for third on the NCAA Division I-A chart for best career starts in the first four years. His offense ranked first in the nation and his quarterback – Eric Crouch – became the third Husker in school history to garner the Heisman Trophy award. A former Husker fullback, Solich served as an assistant at Nebraska for 19 years before being named head coach after the 1997 regular season.
Ron Turner, Illinois (10-1) – From 0-11 to 10-1 and the 2001 Big Ten Championship – that’s what Turner has done in just five years at Illinois, completing one of the greatest turnarounds in college football. It is the first outright Big Ten title for Illinois in 18 years. Turner has also led the Illini to its first-ever berth in the Bowl Championship Series.With a win over Northwestern, Illinois reached the 10-win mark for only the fourth time in school history. It is also the best record for an Illini squad since the 1990 team went 10-2. A former head coach at San Jose State and an assistant with the Chicago Bears, Turner joined Illinois at the end of the 1996 season and recently signed a contract extension that keeps him in Champaign through January of 2006.
With more than 800 members, the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association was originally formed in 1959 to honor sportscasters and sportswriters in the Carolinas. In 1960, the NSSA expanded to a national association and annually recognizes the National Sportscaster of the Year and the National Sportswriter of the Year.
While the Coach of the Year Award has been an annual tradition since 1957, the American Heart Association adopted and re-named the award in 1986 to honor Paul “Bear” Bryant, who died of a heart attack in 1983. The Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year dinner and award presentation appropriately has become a major annual fund raiser for the Houston Division of the American Heart Association, with many business and community leaders and sports figures annually lending support to the event. Proceeds from last year’s dinner assisted in the funding of more than 10 Houston-area research grants totaling more than $1.4 million. The American Heart Association leads the fight against heart disease and stroke through research, education and advocacy programs.
