BATON ROUGE — LSU’s Nick Saban, who guided the Tigers to the 2003 BCS National Championship, was named the winner of the Football Writers Association of America/Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award on Thursday night at a banquet in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Saban, Texas Christian’s Gary Patterson and Navy’s Paul Johnson attended the banquet, which is sponsored by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and America West Airlines.
Other coaches considered for the award were Southern California’s Pete Carroll, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops and Tulsa’s Steve Kragthorpe.
Saban’s Tigers (13-1) won the Southeastern Conference title and then defeated Oklahoma, 21-14, in the Nokia Sugar Bowl to claim the BCS national title. Saban had previously been honored as the Associated Press National Coach of the Year. Saban is also one of nine finalists for the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award, which will be handed out next week in Houston.
Saban is a first time winner of the FWAA award and only the second LSU coach to win it. In 1958, LSU coach Paul Dietzel won the FWAA award in the second year of its existence.
In four years with the Tigers, Saban has guided LSU to a 39-13 overall mark and to a pair of Southeastern Conference titles. The 39 wins is the most for LSU over a four-year stretch.
The FWAA has presented a Coach of the Year Award since 1957 and annually selects the winner by a vote of its entire membership.
The FWAA honors an outstanding coach each year in the name of Grambling State University’s Eddie Robinson, the winningest Division I head coach in college football history. The banquet also helps support the Eddie Robinson Foundation, which is based in Atlanta.