BROYLES AWARD FINALISTS

Broyles Award finalists flaunt sudden, sustained success

— Winning the Broyles Award, which goes the top assistant coach in college football, is a younger man’s game this year.

The five finalists are all younger than 44 years old and relatively new to their positions as coordinators at elite programs, including Texas A&M offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury in his first season on the job.

Kingsbury, 33, is the youngest finalist up for the award, which will be presented at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 4 at The Little Rock Peabody hotel, while Stanford defensive coordinator Derek Mason is the oldest at 43 years old.

The rest of the finalists are Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo (37), Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco (39) and Florida defensive coordinator Dan Quinn (42). They were chosen, along with Kingsbury and Mason,from a list of 29 nominees.

Bobo, who is in his seventh season heading up the Bulldogs’ offense, still has one prebowl game left to play as No. 3 Georgia prepares for the SEC Championship Game on Saturday against No. 2 Alabama in Atlanta.

Georgia ranks 24th nationally at 463.7 yards per game of total offense, and averaged 38.0 points per game (No. 17) en route to an SEC East Division title. The Bulldogs have been balanced, with a running attack (190.8 yards per game) headed up by freshmen Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall, and senior quarterback Aaron Murray passing for 273.6 yards per game.

A Bulldogs victory would likely set up a head-to-head match up between Bobo’s offense and Diaco, 39, who coordinates the defense of the top ranked Fighting Irish in the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 9 in Miami.

Diaco’s defense ranked No. 30 in 2011 and has only improved this year, sitting at No. 6 in the NCAA by allowing 286.8 yards per game and the second-fewest points at 10.3per game.

As for Mason, who is in his second season as the Cardinals’ defensive coordinator, he is preparing No. 8 Stanford for a rematch with No. 16 UCLA in the Pacific-12 Championship Game on Saturday in Palo Alto, Calif. If Stanford wins, it would be in line for its first Rose Bowl berth since 1971.

At Florida, Quinn, 42, has the fourth-ranked Gators rated fifth in total defense (282.6 yards per game), third in scoring defense (12.9 points per game) and sixth in rushing defense (96.6 yards per game), including holding six opponents to less than 100 yards on the ground this season.

Kingsbury, who spent last season as a co-offensive coordinator at Houston, oversees one of the nation’s most prolific up-tempo schemes.

The No. 9 Aggies rank third nationally in total offense at 552.3 yards per game and average 44.8 points per game (No. 4) behind Heisman Trophy candidate and freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel.

The five finalists

Finalists for the Broyles Award, which is given to college football’s top assistant coach and will be presented by the Rotary Club of Little Rock on Dec. 4 at the Little Rock Peabody hotel.

MIKE BOBO SCHOOL Georgia POSITION Offensive coordinator NOTABLE Played quarterback for the Bulldogs from 1993-1997, and was named MVP of the 1998 Outback Bowl.

BOB DIACO SCHOOL Notre Dame POSITION Defensive coordinator NOTABLE He was a semifinalist for the award last season, his first season as the Irish coordinator.

KLIFF KINGSBURY SCHOOL Texas A&M POSITION Offensive coordinator NOTABLE Coached seventh-place Heisman Trophy finisher Case Keenum at Houston, and is coaching another Heisman candidate in quarterback Johnny Manziel DAN QUINN SCHOOL Florida POSITION Defensive coordinator NOTABLE Served as Seattle Seahawks defensive line coach under Pete Carroll before joining the Gators in January 2011.

DEREK MASON SCHOOL Stanford POSITION Defensive coordinator NOTABLE All three defensive coordinators nominated this year are in their second seasons in those positions.

Sports, Pages 18 on 11/27/2012

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