The ‘Heisman for coaches,’ the Dodd Trophy celebrates 50 years

The Bobby Dodd Foundation will celebrate 50 years of the Dodd Trophy when the award is presented at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the College Football Hall of Fame to one of five finalists.

In 1976, Georgia coach Vince Dooley took home the first Dodd Trophy, an honor that, “celebrates the head coach of a team who enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity — the three pillars of legendary coach Bobby Dodd’s coaching philosophy.”

This year’s five finalists — Kirby Smart of Georgia, Curt Cignetti of Indiana, Clark Lea of Vanderbilt, Ryan Day of Ohio State and Joey McGuire of Texas Tech — could have the distinction of being the 50th coach to add the hardware to their trophy case.

“It has grown in its awareness and prestige,” Jim Terry, chairman of the Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation, said. “We want to make it the Heisman Trophy, as the Heisman is to players, we wanna make this the Heisman for coaches.”

Sam Lyle, a former assistant on coach Bobby Dodd’s staff at Georgia Tech, came up with the idea to honor the legendary Tech coach with an award. The first trophy was handed to Dooley in ’76, then to some iconic figures of the sport since like Bo Schembechler of Michigan, Tom Osborne of Nebraska, Bobby Bowden of Florida State, Joe Paterno of Penn State, Bill Snyder of Kansas State and Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech.

George O’Leary and Bobby Ross have won it as Tech coaches, and former Tech coach Paul Johnson won in 2004 with the Naval Academy.

“If you look at coaches’ resumes, when you get to the part about accomplishments, other than wins and losses, if they’ve won this award, it’s usually the first thing on that resume,” Terry said. “A few years ago when (Clemson coach) Dabo (Swinney) won it, I think that was a contract year for him and I think he had that on his accomplishment list when negotiating his contract.

“It’s not an easy award to win because you have to do things, what we call, the Dodd way. That is worrying about academics, doing things with integrity and demonstrating leadership every day, not just when you feel like it.”

The 2026 finalists were selected by a panel consisting of all previous winners, national media and a College Football Hall of Fame member, taking into consideration each program’s graduation rate, Graduation Success Rate, commitment to service and charity in the community, on-field success and Academic Progress Rate. Terry said Dodd’s grandson and great-grandson and great-granddaughter are also part of the selection committee and members of the board so as to link Dodd’s legacy from the past to the present.

“That’s what the whole thing is about anyway, perpetuating the Dodd legacy, because it’d be pretty easy in this day and time for what coach Dodd stood for and his whole thing to just go away,” Terry added. “We’re not gonna do that.”

After Thursday’s announcement, the winner will be physically given the Dodd Trophy during a ceremony on campus at the winning coach’s school later this year. Terry said that usually involves a celebratory dinner that allows the coach to thank his players, past and present, coaching staff, administration and family.

Those events have grown over the years as well, with marching bands and live mascots even turning up for the occasion. It has become not only a time to celebrate the recipient of the award, but also to annually celebrate Dodd as well.