BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana head football coach Tom Allen is one of 24 head coaches named to the 2020 American Heart Association Paul “Bear” Bryant Award Watch List.
The Coach of the Year Award, presented each January, is the only college coaching honor selected after all postseason bowl games and the National Championship conclude. The winner will be announced live on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, during a virtual awards ceremony benefiting the American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary health organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives.
Football coaching legend Paul “Bear” Bryant died from a heart attack in 1983. Moved to drive education around heart disease after his passing, the Bryant family teamed with the American Heart Association in 1986 building on the Association’s Coach of the Year Award to create the Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards. Each year, the awards honor “Bear’s” legacy by recognizing coaching excellence while raising critical funds for research to eradicate cardiovascular disease through event sponsorships, an auction and individual donations.
Allen has the Hoosiers sitting atop the Big Ten East with a perfect 4-0 record. Below are some of the program’s notable 2020 achievements:
•IU sits in the Top 10 in both national polls for the second-straight week and is ranked for the fourth-consecutive week, coming in at No. 9 in the Associated Press Top 25 and at No. 10 in the Amway Coaches Poll presented by USA Today Sports.
•Indiana earned its first Top-10 ranking in the AP Poll since Sept. 22, 1969 (No. 10), and its current ranking is its best in the AP Poll since Nov. 27, 1967 (No. 4).
•The Hoosiers were last ranked in the Top 10 in back-to-back weeks in 1967 (Nov. 6, Nov. 13) and this is their 17th Top-10 rating.
•IU is 4-0 for the first time since 2015 (4-0) and the seventh time in school history (1990, 4-0; 1986, 4-0; 1985, 4-0; 1967, 8-0; 1910, 5-0). It is 4-0 to start Big Ten play for the third time overall (1987, 4-0; 1967, 5-0).
•Indiana has won a program-record-tying five-straight B1G games (1967) and nine of its last 11, its most successful stretch in conference games since a 9-2 mark from Oct. 3, 1987-Oct. 21, 1988.
•The Hoosiers have won three-straight Big Ten road games for the first time since 1982 and have earned victories in their first two league games away from home for the first time since 1993.
•IU defeated Michigan State, 24-0, last weekend to reclaim the Old Brass Spittoon for the first time since 2016 and earn its first victory in East Lansing since 2001.
•Indiana’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 IU’s first Top-10 victory at Memorial Stadium since Nov. 25, 1967 (No. 3 Purdue, 19-14).
•Indiana has defeated PSU, U-M and MSU 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.
•Indiana has defeated two ranked teams for the sixth time in school history and for the first time since 2004. The 1945 team holds the program record with three ranked wins in one year.
The coaches on this year’s Watch List are (in alphabetical order):
TOM ALLEN, INDIANA UNIVERSITY
Matt Campbell, Iowa State University
Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina University
Paul Chryst, University of Wisconsin
Mario Cristobal, University of Oregon
Ryan Day, The Ohio State University
Manny Diaz, University of Miami
Karl Dorrell, University of Colorado
Luke Fickell, University of Cincinnati
Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M University
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern University
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State University
Clay Helton, University of Southern California
Tom Herman, The University of Texas at Austin
Doc Holliday, Marshall University
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame University
Gus Malzahn, Auburn University
Dan Mullen, University of Florida
Jay Norvell, University of Nevada
Lincoln Riley, University of Oklahoma
Nick Saban, University of Alabama
Kalani Sitake, Brigham Young University
Kirby Smart, University of Georgia
Dabo Swinney, Clemson University
Previously announced 2020 Paul “Bear” Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award and 2020 Heart of a Champion Award will also be presented virtually at the 35th Annual Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards ceremonies, sponsored by Marathon Oil Corporation.
Marathon Oil, an independent exploration and production company based in Houston, has served as the presenting sponsor of the Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards for over 10 years, underscoring the company’s commitment to the health and well-being of their employees, families and communities. Marathon Oil works with leading community organizations that share their core values, like the American Heart Association, to advance important public health initiatives that promote the common good and protect the public.
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a leading force for a world of longer, healthier lives. With nearly a century of lifesaving work, the Dallas-based association is dedicated to ensuring equitable health for all. We are a trustworthy source empowering people to improve their heart health, brain health and well-being. We collaborate with numerous organizations and millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, advocate for stronger public health policies, and share lifesaving resources and information. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.
COURTESY INDIANA ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
