Fresh off his team’s 7-0 start to the 2023 season, Liberty head football coach Jamey Chadwell has been named to the 2023 Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award watch list.
Chadwell and the Flames are 7-0 following the team’s win over Middle Tennessee on Tuesday night, making Liberty one of only three teams currently 7-0 on the season including Georgia and Michigan. The Flames are atop the Conference USA standings with an unbeaten 5-0 record in conference play.
Chadwell’s 7-0 start in his first season at Liberty, is the best start by any head coach in school history. He tops Sam Rutigliano’s 6–0 start during his first season guiding the Flames in 1989.
26 active college football coaches make up the American Heart Association’s 2023 Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award watch list, a list of current coaches in consideration for the annual top honor. The award is given each January to a college football coach for contributions that make the sport better for student-athletes and fans alike by demonstrating grit, integrity and a winning approach to coaching and life, both on and off the field.
Chadwell was a finalist for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award in 2020 when he was head coach at Coastal Carolina. He was named the 2020 Paul “Bear” Bryant Group of Five Conference Coach of the Year.
Chadwell is one of five Group of Five head coaches named to this year’s watch list. He is joined on the list by Troy Calhoun (Air Force), Curt Cignetti (James Madison), Willie Fritz (Tulane), and G.J. Kinne (Texas State).
The Coach of the Year award winner will be announced live from Houston’s Post Oak Hotel on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, during an awards ceremony presented by Marathon Oil. The watch list, finalists, and Coach of the Year recipient are voted on by the National Sports Media Association, the Bryant Awards’ Executive Leadership Team, and the Bryant Family.
The complete list of 2023 Paul “Bear” Bryant Award watch list:
ACC
- Jeff Brohm – Louisville
- Mack Brown – North Carolina
- Mike Elko – Duke
- Mike Norvell – Florida State
Big Ten
- Ryan Day – Ohio State
- James Franklin – Penn State
- Jim Harbaugh – Michigan
- Mike Locksley – Maryland
Big 12
- Lance Leipold – Kansas
- Steve Sarkisian – Texas
- Brent Venables – Oklahoma
Pac-12
- Kalen DeBoer – Washington
- Dan Lanning – Oregon
- Lincoln Riley – USC
- Deion Sanders – Colorado
- Jonathan Smith – Oregon State
SEC
- Eliah Drinkwitz – Missouri
- Lane Kiffin – Ole Miss
- Nick Saban – Alabama
- Kirby Smart – Georgia
- Mark Stoops – Kentucky
Group of Five Conferences
- Troy Calhoun – Air Force (Mountain West Conference)
- Curt Cignetti – James Madison (Sun Belt Conference)
- Jamey Chadwell – Liberty (Conference USA)
- Willie Fritz – Tulane (American Athletic Conference)
- G.J. Kinne – Texas State (Sun Belt Conference)
