FootballScoop on Tuesday announced the defensive finalists for the 2018 Coach of the Year awards, which are once again sponsored by AstroTurf. Now in its 11th year, the FootballScoop Coach of the Year program is the only college football awards program that honors coaches from FBS to NAIA and, most importantly, is the only set of college football coaching awards where the honorees are selected by their peers.
Coaches are nominated by fellow coaches and each award is chosen by a panel of each award's former winners.
Winners will be announced throughout the month and each winner will receive his award at the FootballScoop party during the AFCA Convention in San Antonio.
Without further ado, the divisional finalists are:
DefensiveCoordinator
Bryan Brown, Appalachian State
Don Brown, Michigan
Clark Lea, Notre Dame
Tosh Lupoi, Alabama
David Reeves, UAB
Bob Shoop, Mississippi State
Scot Sloan, Georgia Southern
Brent Venables, Clemson
Bert Watts, Fresno State
2017: Kevin Steele, Auburn
Defensive Line Coach
Todd Bates, Clemson
Chuck Bullough and Ron Burton, Michigan State
Jess Simpson, Miami
Walter Stewart, Northern Illinois
2017 winner: Larry Johnson, Ohio State
Linebackers Coach
Dave Aranda, LSU
Tim DeRuyter and Peter Sirmon, California
Bob Gregory and Pete Kwiatkowski, Washington
Jeff Koonz, North Texas
2017 winner: Tyson Veidt, Iowa State
Defensive Backs Coach
Ephraim Banda and Mike Rumph, Miami
Bryan Brown and Greg Gasparato, Appalachian State
Todd Lyght, Notre Dame
Bob Shoop and Terrell Buckley, Mississippi State
2017 winner: Anthony Campanile, Boston College
Special Teams Coordinator
Jeff Banks, Alabama
Marty Biagi, North Texas
Robby Discher, Toledo
Rob Wenger, Minnesota
2017 winner: James Shibest, Virginia Tech
Since 1965, the AstroTurf brand has been driven by forward thinking ingenuity. Today AstroTurf continuously improves its system design to deliver playing surfaces with the most realistic, sport-specific performance, longest lasting durability, and sound player protection. For more information please visit AstroTurf.com.
