Indiana head coach Tom Allen was named one of nine finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
Allen is the first Indiana finalist for the award since John Pont in 1967.
Below is the full release from the university.
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Tom Allen is one of nine finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, it was announced by the Football Writers Association of America, in conjunction with the Allstate Sugar Bowl, on Monday afternoon. Allen is Indiana's first finalist for the award since John Pont won it in 1967.
In alphabetical order the finalists are: Tom Allen, Indiana; Brent Brennan, San José State; Matt Campbell, Iowa State; Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina; Karl Dorrell, Colorado; Luke Fickell, Cincinnati; Nick Saban, Alabama; Kalani Sitake, BYU; and Dabo Swinney, Clemson.
Allen was named the Big Ten's Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year (coaches vote) and Dave McClain Coach of the Year (media vote) last week. He was also recognized as the American Football Coaches Association Region 3 Coach of the Year, and he is a candidate for the Dodd Trophy and the Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards.
The Hoosiers are ranked No. 7 in the country with a 6-1 record and will face Ole Miss in the 35th Outback Bowl on Saturday, Jan. 2.
Below are some of the program's notable 2020 achievements:
•Indiana is playing in consecutive January bowls for the first time in school history.
•IU is ranked for a program record ninth-consecutive week, coming in at No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 and at No. 8 in the Amway Coaches Poll presented by USA Today Sports.
•The Hoosiers have been ranked in the Top 10 six times in 2020, the second-most in school history (9 weeks in 1945).
•Indiana collected its first Top-10 ranking in the Nov. 8 AP Poll (No. 10) since Sept. 22, 1969 (No. 10).
•IU's No. 7 rating is its best in the AP Poll since Nov. 27, 1967 (No. 4).
•The Hoosiers three Top-25 victories are tied for the second-most in the country behind Alabama's four.
•Their three Top-25 wins also matched the 1945 team's program record.•Indiana's 6-1 record is its best overall start since 1993 (7-1).
•IU is 14-6 overall and 11-5 in league play since the beginning of the 2019 campaign. Its 14 victories share fourth and its 11 Big Ten wins share third among all B1G teams during that span.
•With their victory over Maryland, the Hoosiers clinched a winning league record in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1987-88 and for the sixth time overall (1967-68, 1944-46 and 1936-37).
•Indiana's six conference wins are tied for the most in school history (1967, 1987).
•IU's 11 Big Ten victories are tied for the most in program history over a two-year span (1987-88).
•The Hoosiers collected their first win over No. 16 Wisconsin (14-6) since defeating the Badgers in back-to-back seasons on Oct. 6, 2001 (63-32) and on Oct. 12, 2002 (32-29), the former coming at Camp Randall Stadium.
•Indiana recorded its first road victory over a ranked opponent since No. 18 Missouri on Sept. 20, 2014 (31-27), and its first B1G road win over a ranked opponent since No. 22 Michigan State on Nov. 10, 2001 (37-28).
•Wisconsin's six points marked its lowest total against IU since Oct. 24, 1992 (3), and it was U-W's first game without a touchdown since Oct. 3, 2015, against Iowa.
•The Hoosiers matched a school record with five-straight league victories (1967) before losing at No. 3 Ohio State and have won 11 of their last 14, their most successful stretch in conference games in program history.
•Indiana defeated Michigan State, 24-0, to reclaim the Old Brass Spittoon for the first time since 2016 and earn its first win in East Lansing since 2001.
•IU's 38-21 victory over No. 23 Michigan was its first over the Wolverines since Oct. 24, 1987 (14-10).
•The Hoosiers 36-35, overtime win against No. 8 Penn State in the season opener was the sixth against a Top-10 opponent in school history, with the last coming at No. 9 Ohio State (31-10) on Oct. 10, 1987.
•It marked Indiana's first Top-10 victory at Memorial Stadium since Nov. 25, 1967 (No. 3 Purdue, 19-14).
•IU has defeated PSU, U-M, MSU and UW in the same season for the first time in program history and beaten the Wolverines and Spartans in the same year for the first time since 1967.
"The Allstate Sugar Bowl is proud to sponsor the Eddie Robinson Award and to once again have the opportunity to recognize the top college football coaches in the nation as finalists for this honor," said Ralph Capitelli, the President of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. "While each of the finalists is fully deserving of the award, we look forward to presenting the trophy to the winner as selected by the football writers."
The 2020 recipient will be announced the week of Jan. 4-8, 2021. The official presentation will be on the campus of the winning coach at a later date. The nine finalists have been placed on a ballot which has been sent to the entire FWAA membership.
"The FWAA believes it has an extremely good group of coaches representing different conferences and independents," said Executive Director Steve Richardson. "We will have a fine recipient for the 2020 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award. The FWAA's congratulations go out to all coaches for weathering what has been a very trying and unpredictable year."
"This time of the year with the winding down of the college football season, I'm especially excited to receive the announcement of the Eddie Robinson Coach of Year Award finalists," said Eddie Robinson III, the grandson of the award's namesake. "With all of the world dealing with Covid-19, and the fact that we even had a season and that every program had to adapt to deal with the virus protocols etc, all the coaches that made list of finalists are even more than deserving of the award. We wish the best for all that were selected as finalists."
The FWAA has presented a coaching award since the 1957 season when Ohio State's Woody Hayes was named the first recipient. The FWAA coaching award is named after the late Robinson, a coaching legend at Grambling State University for 55 seasons.
The Eddie Robinson Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 25 awards now boast over 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit ncfaa.org and @NCFAA on Twitter to learn more about the association.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 96 Hall of Fame players, 50 Hall of Fame coaches and 18 Heisman Trophy winners in its 86-year history. The 87th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, which will double as a College Football Playoff Semifinal, is scheduled to be played on Jan. 1, 2021 between No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1.6 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.7 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit AllstateSugarBowl.org.
The Football Writers Association of America, founded in 1941, consists of 1,300 men and women who cover college football. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include game-day operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com.
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