Nothing quite rings the bell that we’re close to the start of the college football season than the parade of preseason award watch lists. Those are about to begin in earnest, but we already are starting to see some of the early ones make the rounds.
This past week, the 2023 preseason Dodd Trophy watch list that goes to the head coach “whose team excels on the field, in the classroom, and in the community,” was released, and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day was among the 21 names appearing.
The Dodd Trophy has been handed out annually since 1976 by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Jim Tressel is the only OSU coach to have won the award back in that memorable 2002 season. To qualify for the list, a coach has to have his team have an academic progress rate of at least 980, with first-year coaches not eligible for the award.
Day, entering his fifth season in Columbus and has won at an elite clip, amassing a 45-6 record. He has three College Football Playoff appearances, a national title game appearance, three Big Ten East championships, and two Big Ten titles. However, the caveat of all caveats is that he’s working through a two-game losing streak to Michigan.
That’s the on-the-field success. Off the field, his teams have done great in the classroom. The Ohio State program has an academic progress rate of 1,000, which is tied with Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson on the list as the best in the country.
Presenting the #DoddTrophy Preseason Watch List 🏆
21 of the nation’s top coaches representing all Power Five conferences, as well as the AAC, Mountain West and an independent are hopefuls for college football's most coveted coaching award 👏
📰 https://t.co/6wlW1pMyiF@PNCBank pic.twitter.com/nkClJA3Udh
— The Dodd Trophy (@thedoddtrophy) July 13, 2023
It’s the fourth-straight year Day has appeared on the Dodd preseason watch list and he’ll be hoping that on-field success this year goes in concert with what happens off the gridiron to bring it home.
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