An assistant who helped navigate Ohio State through some choppy offensive waters and whose name is spinning loudly on the coaching carousel has been rewarded for his coaching efforts this season.
At a luncheon Tuesday afternoon, the Rotary Club of Little Rock, Ark., announced that Ohio State offensive coordinator Tom Herman has been named as the 2014 winner of the Broyles Award. The award, named for Arkansas coaching legend Frank Broyles, is given out annually to the nation’s top assistant.
Herman is the second OSU assistant to win the award, joining Jim Heacock (2007).
Entering the 2014 season, the OSU offense had four offensive line starters to replace from the previous year. On top of that, starting quarterback Braxton Miller, the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, went out with a season-ending injury; three months later, his replacement, J.T. Barrett, was lost for the remainder of the season with his own injury. OSU’s third quarterback, Cardale Jones, helped guide the Buckeyes to a 59-0 rout of Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game, a win that helped propel them to a berth in the first-ever College Football Playoff.
There were four other finalists up for the award: offensive coordinators Lane Kiffin (Alabama), Scott Frost (Oregon) and Doug Meacham (TCU), and Missouri defensive coordinator Dave Steckel.
While Herman won the award, and may end up with the Houston job officially vacated Monday, Kiffin won the podium.
"People ask me what Nick (Saban) says to me on the sidelines. It is just, 'I love you so much. Can we just run some."
— BROYLES AWARD (@BroylesAward) December 9, 2014
-Lane Kiffin, Alabama
(Photo credit: Broyles Award)