Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald was named the winner of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year trophy.
The Dodd Trophy 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.
Fitzgerald is the second Northwestern coach to win the award. The first was Gary Barnett in 1995.
No. 15 Northwestern reached the Big 10 championship game, losing to playoff-bound Ohio State 22-10. The Wildcats play Auburn Friday in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
In presenting the award, Gary Stokan, the CEO and president of Peach Bowl Inc., highlighted Fitzgerald’s accomplishments on the field and in the classroom, particularly the team’s graduation rate and a record 69 players earning academic all-conference honors in 2020.
“It’s truly an honor to join that club because it’s not just about wins and losses,” Fitzgerald told the Daily Northwestern. “It’s about the way you develop men. We, as a program, take pride in being the best player development program in the country and best player development program staff in the country, so it’s a great honor.”
Winners of the award from the previous two years and first-year coaches at a school are ineligible to win the Dodd Trophy.
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 from 1951-76 and worked as a consultant for the Tech alumni association until he died in 1988.
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