By Kevin Horne
Bill O’Brien is adding another award to his trophy case, this time the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award, which he won Thursday night in Houston.
This is Coach O’Brien’s third coach of the year award after a magical 2012 season, already having won the Maxwell Club and AT&T ESPN Coach of the Year awards last month. O’Brien was also a finalist for three other coach of the year honors.
Joe Paterno was the inaugural Bear Bryant Coach of the Year recipient back in 1986 after Penn State won its second national championship. O’Brien beat out coaches James Franklin (Vanderbilt), Urban Meyer (Ohio State), David Shaw (Stanford), Bill Snyder (Kansas State) and Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M) for the honor.
Penn State rebounded from an 0-2 start, winning eight of its final 10 games, including a 24-21 overtime victory against Wisconsin on Nov. 24 in the season finale.
