2006 BP Awards: The W.W. Hayes (Best Coach)

[LordJeffBuck]

There were several excellent choices for the best coach in 2006: Greg Schiano led lowly Rutgers to a 10-2 record and one of its best seasons ever; ditto for Wake Forest's Jim Grobe, whose Demon Deacons finsihed 11-2 and won the ACC championship and a spot in the Orange Bowl; Houston Nutt shifted the balance in the SEC and nearly won the conference championship; Wisconsin's Bret Bielema replaced a legend and led the Badgers to an 11-1 season; Chris Petersen led Boise State to a perfect regular season and a BCS bowl; Oklahoma's Bob Stoops lost his starting QB and his Heisman-candidate RB and still won the Big 12; even our old friend Lloyd Carr revitalized a Michigan program that seemed destined to finish in the middle of the Big Ten. However, despite the great things accomplished by the others, Ohio State's Jim Tressel piloted the Buckeyes to an undefeated regular season, an outright Big Ten championship (the first in over two decades), and a place in the BCS national championship game, all while rebuilding a defense which lost nine starters. JT deserves this one, and Woody would be proud!

The top finishers are set forth below, with number of first place votes in parentheses:

Jim Tressel (Ohio State) - 187 (17)
Greg Schiano (Rutgers) - 175 (10)
Jim Grobe (Wake Forest) - 115 (9)
Houston Nutt (Arkansas) - 59
Lloyd Carr (Michigan) - 54
Bret Bielema (Wisconsin) - 46 (2)
Pete Carroll (Southern Cal) - 36
Chris Petersen (Boise State) - 35 (1)
Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) - 31 (1)
Urban Meyer (Florida) - 23
Bobby Petrino (Louisville) - 13
Mack Brown (Texas) - 10
Frank Solich (Ohio) - 8
Terry Hoeppner (Indiana) - 7
Terry Bowden (Clemson) - 7
Rich Rodriguez (West Virginia) - 7
Bill Callahan (Nebraska) - 6 (1)
Chan Gailey (Georgia Tech) - 6


Last year's results

 

[The Man]

Bill Callahan had a first place vote? Nice to see Bill took the time to visit BP and cast a ballot.

 

[Okinawa's#1Buck]

Jim Tressel (Ohio State) - 187 (17)
Greg Schiano (Rutgers) - 175 (10)
Jim Grobe (Wake Forest) - 115 (9)

Schiano and Grobe were just as worth as JT. I couldn't fault anyone for placing a vote for either.

 

[t_BuckeyeScott]

Is there really a valid reason why we don't just call this award "The Woody"?
Shouldn't we embrace the comedic value of our historic coach having the same name as an erection?

 

[PrincetonBuckeye]

I voted for Grobe....I thought he did an amazing job to get of all schools, Wake, to a BCS bowl...i thought that was pretty impressive...

 

[2002AGAIN]

I live in Houston and the job that Todd Graham did is just amazing. To even get them bowling is a feat; if I hadn't cast my ballot with about 5 weeks left in the season, I would have voted him in for sure.