Two days ago, Gus Malzahn received a coach of the year award named in honor of a coaching legend who’s no longer with us. Friday, he received one whose namesake is still with us.
In the fifth year of the award, the Auburn head coach was named as the Bobby Bowden National Collegiate Coach of the Year. The award, handed out annually by Birmingham’s Over the Mountain Touchdown Club, has never left the state of Alabama, with Alabama’s Nick Saban winning it three times and Auburn’s Gene Chizik once.
Malzahn was one of five finalists for this year’s award, joined by Baylor’s Art Briles, Duke’s David Cutcliffe, Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio and Florida State’s Jimbo Fisher.
The Bowden award is the sixth major coaching honor Malzahn has earned since the end of the 2013 regular season. Cutcliffe has been on the receiving end of five.