The Broyles Award announced the 40 assistant coaches to be up for consideration for this year’s award. The award honors the top assistant coach in college football and was first awarded in 1996. Over the years, a number of Broyles Award winners have gone on to become head coaches, including Duke head coach David Cutcliffe, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart, UConn head coach Bob Diaco, Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi and Houston head coach Tom Herman. Will any of this year’s nominees go on to be a head coach soon? There are certainly some names worth considering for some jobs.
Some top names on this year’s Broyles Award list of nominees includes Clemson defensive coordinatorBrent Venables, LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda, Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown and Colorado defensive cooridnator Jim Leavitt. There are a few offensive coordinators on the list as well, including Penn State’s Joe Moorehead and Pittsburgh’s Matt Canada, but defensive coordinators seem to be the story of the year for the Broyles Award.
low is the full list of nominees for this year’s Broyles Award:
- Alabama - Jeremy Pruitt, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
- Arkansas State - Joe Cauthen, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
- Army West Point - Jay Bateman, Defensive Coordinator
- Auburn - Kevin Steele, Defensive Coordinator
- Boise State - Scott Huff, Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive
- Washington State - Alex Grinch, Defensive Coordinator/Secondary
- Brigham Young - Ed Lamb, Special Team Coordinator/Safeties
- Clemson - Brent Venables, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
- Colorado - Jim Leavitt, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
- Colorado State - Will Friend, Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
- Georgia Southern - Chad Lunsford, Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends
- Houston - Todd Orlando - Defensive Coordinator
- Indiana - Tom Allen, Defensive Coordinator
- Iowa State - Tom Manning, Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
- Louisiana Tech - Todd Fitch, Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers
- LSU - Dave Aranda, Defensive Coordinator
- Miami - Manny Diaz, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
- Michigan - Don Brown, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
- Missouri - Glen Elarbee, Offensive Line
- Navy - Ivan Jasper, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
- Nebraska - Trent Bray, Linebackers
- North Carolina - Larry Porter, Special Teams Coordinator/Running Backs
- North Carolina State - Ryan Nielsen, Defensive Line
- Oklahoma State - Mike Yurcich, Coordinator/Quarterbacks
- Old Dominion - Brian Scott, Offensive Coordinator
- Ole Miss - Matt Luke, Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
- Ohio State - Kerry Coombs, Special Teams Coordinator/Cornerbacks
- Penn State - Joe Moorhead, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
- Pittsburgh - Matt Canada, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
- South Carolina - Travaris Robinson, Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs
- Stanford - Mike Bloomgren, Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
- Temple - Phil Snow, Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
- Troy - Matt Moore, Co-Offensive Coordinator
- UCF - Erik Chinander, Defensive Coordinator
- USC - Clancy Pendergast, Defensive Coordinator
- Wake Forest - Mike Elko, Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
- Western Kentucky - Tony Levine, Co-Offensive Coordinator/Special Teams Coordinator
- Western Michigan - Kirk Ciarrocca, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
- West Virginia - Tony Gibson, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
- Wisconsin - Justin Wilcox, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley was named the Broyles Award winner in 2015.