PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, Dec. 24, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — BYU head football coach Kalani Sitake is one 12 semi-finalists for the 2020 George Munger College Coach of the Year Award, Maxwell Football Club executive director Mark Wolpert announced Thursday.
Sitake guided the Cougars to a 11-1 record, including a dominant 49-23 victory over UCF on Tuesday in the Boca Raton Bowl. The Cougars entered the bowl season ranked No. 13 in The Associated Press Top 25 and No. 15 in the Amway Coaches Poll.
BYU is the only FBS team in the nation currently ranked in the top 10 in scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense and total defense. The Cougars are in the top 10 in 14 statistical categories.
“Kalani is very deserving of this and other honors he’s received,” said BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe. “He was at his best this year in the midst of a pandemic. He built a team this year based on leadership, unity and having fun playing the game. You could see it in the way our team approached challenges throughout the season and in the way they played.”
Semifinalist voting for the Maxwell Football Club Collegiate Coach of the Year award began today, Dec. 24 and close on Jan. 2. The finalist round will include the top three coaches as selected in the semifinalist round and will run from Jan. 3-12, with the winner being announced Jan. 15.
Eligible voters include Maxwell Football Club members, NCAA head football coaches, sports information directors and selected national media. Ed Orgeron of LSU was the 2019 winner of the award.
The George Munger Award is presented annually to the best head coach in college football. Founded in 1989, the award is named after former University of Pennsylvania coach George Munger.
