ALLEN A GEORGE MUNGER COACH OF THE YEAR SEMIFINALIST

ALLEN A GEORGE MUNGER COACH OF THE YEAR SEMIFINALIST

Credit Source: Indiana University Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For the second time in as many years, Tom Allen is a semifinalist for the George Munger College Coach of the Year Award, which is presented yearly by the Maxwell Football Club, it was announced Wednesday afternoon.

The field of 12 candidates is below:

Tom Allen, INDIANA
Brent Brennan, San Jose State
Matt Campbell, Iowa State
Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina
Ryan Day, Ohio State
Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
Hugh Freeze, Liberty
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Nick Saban, Alabama
Kalani Sitake, BYU
Dabo Swinney, Clemson

Semifinalist voting for the Maxwell Football Club Collegiate Coach of the Year award will begin on Thursday, Dec. 24, and close on Sunday, Jan. 2. The finalist round will include the top three coaches as selected in the semifinalist round. Finalist voting will open Jan. 3 and run until Jan. 12. The winner will be announced Jan. 15.

Allen is a finalist for the Dodd Trophy, the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award and the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award.

He 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, and was also recognized as the American Football Coaches Association Region 3 Coach of the Year.

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.

Eligible voters include Maxwell Football Club members, NCAA Head Football Coaches, Sports Information Directors and selected national media. Ed Orgeron of LSU was the 2019 winner of the award.

All questions concerning these semifinalist lists or the awards presented by the Maxwell Football Club can be directed to Mr. Mark Wolpert (Maxwell Football Club Executive Director) mwolpert@maxwellfootballclub.org, or to Mr. Richard Cirminiello rcirminiello@maxwellfootballclub.org  (Director of Collegiate Awards).

The Maxwell and Bednarik Awards are members of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 24 awards boast over 750 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story.