By Staff Report.
BOSTON – December 4, 2012 – At hundreds of colleges and universities across the country, college football coaches devote fall Saturdays to executing their game strategies in hopes of leading their teams to victory. However, in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), there are 10 coaches whose dedication and commitment are felt beyond the field of play, helping to promote academic excellence among their student-athletes and through charitable acts in their communities.
Today, Liberty Mutual Insurance recognizes Clemson Head Football Coach Dabo Swinney as one of 10 FBS finalists for the 2012 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award, the premier college football-coaching honor that promotes charity and scholarship while also honoring coaches for their sportsmanship, integrity, responsibility and excellence, on and off the field. Swinney has led Clemson to a 10-2 record in the regular season, including a 7-1 mark in the ACC, the most regular season conference wins in Clemson history.
The 10 FBS finalists were determined as a result of fan voting through CoachOfTheYear.com and Twitter from September 12 through December 1, and evaluated through an objective scoring model endorsed by the College Football Hall of Fame. To qualify for this model, each coach was among the top 15 in fan votes in the FBS division. Those coaches were then evaluated against a series of on- and off-field criteria; including wins, team penalties, sportsmanship, academic performance by the student-athletes, and charitable commitments in their communities and beyond.
“We have heard first-hand by Clemson fans’ voting that Coach Swinney is a clear example of what it means to be a true leader both on the field and in the community,” said James MacPhee, senior vice president and Chief Marketing Officer at Liberty Mutual Insurance “We applaud Coach Swinney’s commitment to the values that help shape the players he coaches and sense of service to the community in which he lives and are pleased to celebrate him as one of this year’s finalists for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award in the FBS.”
Coach Swinney joins a class of 10 FBS finalists for the 2012 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award including, in alphabetical order: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame; Urban Meyer, Ohio State; Jim Mora, UCLA; Bill O’Brien, Penn State; Mark Richt, Georgia; Nick Saban, Alabama; Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M;; and Charlie Strong, Louisville.
Show Dabo Swinney Your Support – Tweet Your Vote at Coachoftheyear.com
Beginning today through December 20, Clemson fans can log their Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year vote for Coach Swinney by visiting coachoftheyear.com on their PC, tablet or mobile device and posting a pre-populated tweet. As part of Liberty Mutual’s partnership with the National Football Foundation, a selection committee of more than 50 College Football Hall of Fame players and coaches, including Archie Manning, Lou Holtz, Vince Dooley, Ronnie Lott, Archie Griffin; as well as national college football media, such as Colin Cowherd, Stewart Mandel and Tim Brando, will evaluate the coaches based on their responsibility, integrity and on-field success to help determine the four coaching winners from FBS, the Football Championship Subdivision, Division II and Division III. Winners are ultimately determined using the following voting weight: Fans 20 percent, College Football Hall of Fame 55 percent, and Media 25 percent.
Liberty Mutual will announce the four winners the morning of the BCS Championship game, January 7, 2013, in South Florida. The FBS coaching winner will receive a $50,000 donation from Liberty Mutual to the charity or charities of his choice, as well as a $20,000 scholarship grant in their name to their school’s alumni association. Since 2006, the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award has celebrated the work of its 21 winners by donating more than $1.5 million to over 90 charities and college alumni scholarship funds. If Dabo Swinney’is named 2012 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year for the Football Bowl Subdivision, he will join former winners in the FBS, including: Les Miles (2011); Gene Chizik, Auburn (2010); Gary Patterson, TCU (2009); Nick Saban, Alabama (2008); Ron Zook, Illinois (2007); and Greg Schiano, Rutgers (2006).
Clemson fans can visit coachoftheyear.com, and connect with us on Facebook at Facebook.com/LMCoachoftheYear, Tumblr at LMcoachofyear.tumblr.com or Twitter at @lmcoachofyear.
About Liberty Mutual Insurance
“Helping people live safer, more secure lives” since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance is a diversified global insurer and the third largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2011 direct premiums written as reported by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Liberty Mutual Insurance also ranks 84th on the Fortune 100 list of largest U.S. corporations, based on 2011 revenue. The company employs over 50,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.
The sixth-largest auto and home insurer in the U.S., Liberty Mutual (libertymutual.com) sells full lines of coverage for automobile, homeowners, valuable possessions, personal liability, and individual life insurance. The company is an industry leader in affinity partnerships, offering car and home insurance to employees and members of more than 14,000 companies, credit unions, professional associations and alumni groups.
About the National Football Foundation & College Football Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl “Red” Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 121 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame, the NFF Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments, Play It Smart, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, and scholarships of more than $1.3 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. The NFF presents the MacArthur Bowl, the William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. For more information, please visit www.footballfoundation.org