Saban Nominated for Bobby Dodd Award

First came The Bear Bryant Award watch list released Wednesday. Alabama's Nick Saban is a nominee.

Thursday, The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation released the midseason watch list for the 2023 Dodd Trophy. This year’s list includes 20 of the nation’s top college football coaches representing all Power Five conferences, as well as the AAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt and an independent. The list includes Saban.

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Managed by Peach Bowl, Inc. and presented by PNC Bank, The Dodd Trophy, college football’s most coveted national coaching award, honors the head coach of a team who enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity – the three pillars of legendary coach Bobby Dodd’s coaching philosophy.

Saban fits those criteria.

The watch list was created through a selection process by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl, Inc., taking into consideration each program’s graduation rate, Graduation Success Rate (GSR), commitment to service and charity in the community, on-field success thus far for the 2023 season and Academic Progress Rate (APR).

Coaches named to this year’s midseason watch list were required to have payers with an APR of 965 or higher.

“Coaches named to The Dodd Trophy watch list historically hold themselves and their teams to a standard of excellence beyond just their success on the field, but also to their involvement in the community and their student-athletes’ achievements in the classroom,” said Jim Terry, chairman of the Boddy Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. “That’s why we like to see a coach who has been at his school for at least two season and has established his own impact on the players and the program.”

Here are the other SEC nominees: Missouri's Eliah Drinkwitz, Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss, and Kirby Smart of Georgia. All but Drinkwitz are Saban disciples.

The winner will be announced in late December.