The calendar turning to November can mean a lot of things in college football but the time-honored tradition of releasing lists of nominees for various awards is as sure of a thing as the sun rising and setting.
One of these lists came out on Wednesday as The Frank & Barbara Broyles Foundation announced the 53 (yep) nominees for the 2018 Broyles Award, which is given to the top assistant coach in the country. Winners of the award from the past five seasons are not eligible to win the honor again, which explains the absence of those such as Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables and last year’s winner, Tony Elliott.
Here are all the nominees, highlighted no doubt by the assistants on some of the College Football Playoff contenders like Alabama and Michigan:
Alabama - Mike Locksley, Offensive Coordinator
Appalachian State - Bryan Brown, Defensive Coordinator/Cornerbacks
Arizona State - Danny Gonzales, Defensive Coordinator
Arkansas State - Norval McKenzie, Special Teams Coordinator/Running Backs
Army - Jay Bateman, Defensive Coordinator
Auburn - Larry Porter, Special Teams Coordinator
Boise State - Zak Hill, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Brigham Young - Ed Lamb, Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers
Buffalo - Brian Borland, Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
California - Tim DeRuyter, Defensive Coordinator/Outside Linebackers
Central Florida - Glen Elarbee, Offensive Line
Cincinnati - Marcus Freeman, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Clemson - Jeff Scott, Co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers
Coastal Carolina - Jamey Chadwell, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Duke - Matt Guerrieri, Co-Defensive Coordinator
Eastern Michigan - Neal Neathery, Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator
Fresno State - Bert Watts, Defensive Coordinator
Georgia - Sam Pittman, Offensive Line
Georgia Southern - Scot Sloan, Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
Houston - Kendal Briles, Offensive Coordinator/Quaterbacks
Indiana - Mike Hart, Assistant Head Coach/Running Backs
Iowa - Phil Parker, Defensive Coordinator/Secondary
Iowa State - Tyson Veidt, Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers
Kentucky - Matt House, Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers
LSU - Dave Aranda, Defensive Coordinator
Memphis - Ryan Silverfield, Offensive Line/Run Game Coordinator
Miami - Manny Diaz, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Michigan - Don Brown, Defensive Coordinator
Michigan State - Mike Tressel, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Mississippi State - Bob Shoop, Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
Missouri - Brick Haley, Defensive Line
Nebraska - Mario Verduzco, Quarterbacks
North Carolina State - Eliah Drinkwitz, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
North Texas - Graham Harrell, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Northwestern - Mike Hankwitz, Defensive Coordinator
Notre Dame - Chip Long, Offensive Coordinator
Ohio State - Ryan Day, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Oklahoma - Bill Bedenbaugh, Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
SMU - Kevin Kane, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
South Carolina - Eric Wolford, Offensive Line
Syracuse - Justin Lustig, Special Teams Coordinator/Wide Receivers
Temple - Chris Wiesehan, Offensive Line/Run Game Coordinator
Texas Tech - Adam Scheier, Special Teams Coordinator
Toledo - Robby Discher, Special Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends
Troy - Bam Hardmon, Inside Linebackers
UAB - David Reeves, Defensive Coordinator
USC - Johnny Nansen, Assistant Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
Utah - Morgan Scalley, Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
Utah State - David Yost, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Wake Forest - Kevin Higgins, Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers
Washington State - Tracy Claeys, Defensive Coordinator
West Virginia - Jake Spavital, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Wisconsin - Joe Rudolph, Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line