BYU’s Kalani Sitake Named Eddie Robinson Coach Of The Year Finalist
Dec 21, 2020, 1:18 PM
Brigham Young Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake comes off the field after his team’s 27-20 win over the UTSA Roadrunners at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
(Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
PROVO, Utah – The Football Writers Association of American (FWAA) and the Allstate Sugar Bowl named BYU’s Kalani Sitake as one of nine finalists for the 2020 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award.
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Sitake has led the Cougars to a 10-1 record this season and ending with a No. 16 ranking in the final College Football Playoff top 25 of 2020. BYU is the only FBS team in the country currently ranked in the top 10 in scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense and total defense.
“The Allstate Sugar Bowl is proud to sponsor the Eddie Robinson Award and to once again have the opportunity to recognize the top college football coaches in the nation as finalists for this honor,” said Ralph Capitelli, the President of the Allstate Sugar Bowl. “While each of the finalists is fully deserving of the award, we look forward to presenting the trophy to the winner as selected by the football writers.”
The nine finalists have been placed on a ballot which has been sent out to the entire FWAA membership. They will announce the winner of the award during the week of Jan. 4-8, 2021.
The @SugarBowlNOLA and@TheFWAA have named @kalanifsitake one of nine finalists for the @CoachRobAward as college football's National Coach of the Year.#BYUFOOTBALL #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/MI9tMIiY0m
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) December 21, 2020
“Kalani is very deserving of this honor,” said BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe. “He was at his best this year in the midst of a pandemic. He implemented the necessary changes from last season in personnel and strategy and built a team this year based on leadership, unity and having fun playing the game.”
The other finalists for the award includes Indiana’s Tom Allen, San Jose State’s Brent Brennan, Matt Campbell from Iowa State, Jamey Chadwell from Coastal Carolina, Colorado’s Karl Dorrell, Luke Fickell from Cincinnati, Alabama’s Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney from Clemson.
“The FWAA believes it has an extremely good group of coaches representing different conferences and independents,” said Executive Director Steve Richardson. “We will have a fine recipient for the 2020 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award. The FWAA’s congratulations go out to all coaches for weathering what has been a very trying and unpredictable year.”
