BATON ROUGE — LSU’s Nick Saban has been named one of seven finalists for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award, the American Heart Association announced on Thursday.
Saban is joined on the list of finalists by Gary Barnett of Colorado, Mike Bellotti of Oregon, Larry Coker of Miami, Ralph Friedgen of Maryland, Frank Solich of Nebraska, and Ron Turner of Illinois.
The winner of the award, which is voted on by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, will be announced at a dinner benefiting the American Heart Association on Jan. 17 at the Hyatt Regency in Houston.
The Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year dinner and award presentation 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.
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.
This year, in just his second season at LSU, Saban guided the Tigers to a 9-3 overall mark and the school’s first outright Southeastern Conference title since 1986. LSU won the SEC title with a 31-20 victory over second-ranked Tennessee in the league’s championship game.
LSU, ranked No. 12 in the nation in both major polls, returns to action on Jan. 1 when the Tigers face seventh-ranked Illinois in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. LSU has won five straight, and seven of its last eight games.
A win over Illinois would make this year’s LSU team the first to close a season with six straight wins since the 1961 Tiger squad won 10 consecutive games to finish the season.
In two years with the Tigers, Saban has guided LSU to a 17-7 overall mark and a 10-6 record in SEC action. Saban has led LSU to six wins over top 25 teams, with three of those victories coming this season.