Utah’s Kyle Whittingham has earned the Dodd Trophy for his program’s success on and off the football field, the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation announced Friday in Atlanta.
The award, honoring the late Georgia Tech coach, is presented annually in connection with the Peach Bowl, and the criteria include “scholarship, leadership and integrity.” The other finalists were Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck, LSU’s Ed Orgeron, Baylor’s Matt Rhule and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney.
Whittingham this month received his first Pac-12 Coach of the Year award after the Utes (11-2) won another South division championship.
The foundation applauded the football program’s academic achievements and Whittingham’s community efforts that “truly embody everything that coach Dodd stood for,” chairman Jim Terry said in a news release.