Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly is the winner of this year’s Bobby Dodd Trophy.
The award is presented annually by the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and is selected by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation, in honor of the late Georgia Tech football coach and athletic director.
“It is an honor to present college football’s most prestigious coaching award to a coach who truly exemplifies the spirit of the award and embodies everything coach Dodd stood for,” said Jim Terry, chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation, in a news release issued Friday by the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. “Coach Kelly has had an incredible season leading the Irish to their first-ever appearance in the College Football Playoff, while simultaneously striving for academic excellence from his players and making a difference in his community.”
The stated goal of the award is to honor a coach whose program embodies “scholarship, leadership and integrity, while also having success on the playing field throughout the season.”
Winners of the award from the previous two years and first-year coaches at a school are ineligible to win the Dodd Trophy.
“It’s an honor to be selected as the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year,” Kelly said in a statement released by the bowl. “I accept this award on behalf of our team, university, staff and fans. Coach Dodd is a legend. He emphasized scholarship, leadership and integrity, and we do the same at Notre Dame.”
Dodd began his 57-year tenure at Tech as an assistant football coach from 1931-44. He was head coach from 1945-66, compiling a record of 165-64-8. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach and a player.
Dodd served as Tech’s athletic director 1951-76 and worked as a consultant for the Tech alumni association until he died in 1988.
“Coach Kelly is an excellent choice to win the Dodd Trophy from what was a very competitive and deserving list of finalists,” said Gary Stokan, the CEO and president of Peach Bowl, Inc. “He epitomizes the ideals of coach Dodd and what the Dodd Trophy stands for.”
