Kyle Whittingham Represents Pac-12 On Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List
Jul 13, 2023, 1:23 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah football’s Kyle Whittingham has been named to the Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List. He is the only coach from the Pac-12 represented on the list.
Whittingham is joined by 20 other head football coaches who embody legendary coach Bobby Dodd’s (the award’s namesake) three-pillar coaching philosophy of scholarship, leadership, and integrity.
The award takes into account each program’s graduation rate, Graduation Success Rate (GSR), commitment to service and charity in the community, projected success for the 2023 season and Academic Progress Rate (APR). This year, coaches needed to have an APR higher than 980 to qualify.
Our Utah Man 🙌
Coach Whittingham has been named to the Dodd Trophy's preseason watchlist! @thedoddtrophy | @UtahCoachWhitt https://t.co/MEuBXGh5CY pic.twitter.com/PaCR9DaLvA
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) July 13, 2023
A Closer Look At The Dodd Trophy Candidates
| Dave Aranda | Baylor | Big 12 | 990 |
| Andy Avalos | Boise State | Mountain West | 982 |
| Mack Brown | North Carolina | ACC | 984 |
| Dave Clawson | Wake Forest | ACC | 1000 |
| Ryan Day | Ohio State | Big Ten | 1000 |
| Dave Doeren | NC State | ACC | 988 |
| Kirk Ferentz | Iowa | Big Ten | 980 |
| P.J. Fleck | Minnesota | Big Ten | 994 |
| Marcus Freeman | Notre Dame | Independent | 991 |
| Willie Fritz | Tulane | AAC | 981 |
| Jim Harbaugh | Michigan | Big Ten | 1000 |
| Gus Malzahn | UCF | Big 12 | 986 |
| Joey McGuire | Texas Tech | Big 12 | 997 |
| Mike Norvell | Florida State | ACC | 981 |
| Sam Pittman | Arkansas | SEC | 994 |
| Nick Saban | Alabama | SEC | 997 |
| Steve Sarkisian | Texas | Big 12 | 983 |
| Dabo Swinney | Clemson | ACC | 985 |
| Mel Tucker | Michigan State | Big Ten | 982 |
| Brent Venables | Oklahoma | Big 12 | 997 |
| Kyle Whittingham | Utah | Pac-12 | 988 |
Whittingham and Utah are clearly in good company on this list.
Six out of the 21 preseason candidates are previous Dodd Trophy winners including Whittingham who took the coveted award home in 2019. Nick Saban, Mack Brown, Dabo Swinney, Kirk Ferentz, and Willie Fritz are the other previous winners represented.
About Utah’s Kyle Whittingham
Whittingham began his career at Utah in 1994 as a defensive line coach (for reference’s sake he’s coached guys who are now in their 50’s), moving over to the “enemy” after his playing days at BYU were over.
From there Whittingham moved up to defensive coordinator and then head coach after Urban Meyer took the Florida job in 2005. Whittingham is the “winningest” coach in Utah football history taking over Ike Armstrong’s long-standing record in 2021.
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Whittingham has helped the Utes move unimaginable mountains through his decades up on the hill. From “Original BCS Busters” to new Pac-12 members, gut-wrenching tragedy, and now back-to-back Pac-12 Champions and Rose Bowl appearances, Whittingham has seen it all with the Utes, building the house brick by brick while few were paying attention.
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports
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