Gator Country

Florida Gators coach Will Muschamp pumps his fist after a 14-6 win against then-No. 3 LSU on Oct. 6 at ben Hill Griffin Stadium. / Gator Country photo by Wes Hall

Will Muschamp is one of 18 coaches named to the watch list for the Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year Award.

The second-year Florida Gators football coach certainly is deserving of the nomination with his Gators No. 6 in the latest BCS Standings. They are 9-1 heading into a 1 p.m. home finale against Jacksonville State on Saturday.

Last season, the Gators finished 6-6 in the regular season before beating Ohio State 24-17 in the Gator Bowl.

They’ll wrap up the regular season at Florida State on Nov. 24 before learning their bowl destination.

Florida is Co-SEC Eastern Division champs with a 7-1 mark this season after going 35 in league play a year ago. However, Georgia will represent the East in the SEC Championship game after winning the head-to-head matchup. The Bulldogs handed the Gators their lone loss, a 17-9 defeat on Oct. 27 in Jacksonville.

The Gators have played the toughest schedule in the nation, according to the NCAA. Their FBS opponents have combined for a 60-30 record heading into this week’s games.

A list of five to 10 finalists will be announced in early December and they will attend an awards dinner on Jan. 17, 2013, in Houston, Texas.

Muschamp is one of five SEC coaches on the watch list. Here is the list of nominees:

Coach School
David Cutcliffe, Duke
Sonny Dykes, Louisiana Tech
Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Chip Kelly, Oregon
Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Will Muschamp, Florida
Bill O’Brien, Penn State
Chris Petersen, Boise State
Mark Richt, Georgia
Mark Riley, Oregon State
Nick Saban, Alabama
David Shaw, Stanford
Bill Snyder, Kansas State
Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Charlie Strong, Lousiville
Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Dabo Swinney, Clemson

About the author

MikeCapshaw

Mike’s 15 years in the business has included more than six years of covering SEC sports and recruiting at a daily newspaper in Arkansas. He has also helped launch a newspaper, magazines, websites and even a sports talk radio show. Mike has won Florida Press Association awards for Best Sports Game Story and Best Sports Feature Story in the past two years as well as a company-wide award at his former newspaper group that includes some 60 publications, for Excellence in Sports Reporting.

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