ARIZONA STATE FOOTBALL

ASU’s Todd Graham a finalist for Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award

Dec 10, 2013, 3:45 PM | Updated: 3:45 pm

After guiding his Arizona State Sun Devils to a 10-3 mark and a Pac-12 South title, head coach Todd Graham has been named one of ten finalists for the 2013 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award.

“We are fortunate to have Coach Graham as a part of the Sun Devil family,” Dr. James Rund, Interim Athletics Director and ASU Senior Vice President for Educational Outreach and Student Services, said. “He is a teacher, first and foremost, and his passion for positively influencing our student-athletes has been evident in the football program’s excellence on the field, in the classroom and around the community. Coach Graham personifies the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award’s ideals of sportsmanship, integrity, responsibility and excellence – and we hope to rally our fans and alumni to voice their support him with their votes over these next few weeks.”

The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award will honor the coach who best exemplifies responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship and excellence both on and off the field. The winner will be announced January 6.

Graham has already won the Pac-12 Coach of the Year Award in just his second season in Tempe. Should Coach Graham win, he will receive $50,000 from Liberty Mutual to donate to his favorite charities and a $20,000 contribution to the Arizona State University Alumni Association for scholarship.

The other nine finalists for the award are Baylor’s Art Briles, Duke’s David Cutcliffe, Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio, Gus Malzahn of Auburn, Ohio State’s Urban Meyer, UCLA’s Jim Mora, Penn State’s Bill O’Brien, Alabama’s Nick Saban and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney.

Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly won the honor last season.

Fans can vote starting Tuesday until December 22 at CoachoftheYear.com or Facebook.com/LMCoachoftheYear. Twenty percent of the each finalist’s standing will depend on the fan vote.

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