[6][5][7] The College Football Coach of the Year Award began in 1957 and was renamed for Bryant in 1986.
[8][1] According to the official website:[7] The Paul Bear Bryant College Football Coaching Awards is an exclusive event that honors a college football coach whose great accomplishments, both on and off the field, are legendary.
The award recognizes the masters of coaching and allows them to take their deserved place in history beside other legends like Bear Bryant.
Unlike many college football head coaching awards, it is presented after each season's bowl games.
[9] 2000 – Darrell Royal 2001 – Charles McClendon 2002 – Bill Yeoman 2003 – Frank Broyles 2004 – Gene Stallings 2005 – Lou Holtz 2006 – Jack Pardee 2007 – Bo Schembechler 2008 – Tom Osborne 2009 – Barry Switzer 2010 – Vince Dooley 2011 – Bobby Bowden 2012 – Hayden Fry 2013 – LaVell Edwards 2014 – R. C. Slocum 2015 – Jimmy Johnson 2016 – Mack Brown 2017 – Barry Alvarez 2018 – Steve Spurrier 2019 – Frank Beamer 2020 – Bill Snyder 2021 – Howard Schnellenberger 2022 - John Robinson 2023 - Lloyd Carr 2024 - Grant Teaff