Kansas, K-State and Missouri football coaches all make this preseason watch list
Kansas, K-State and Missouri are well-represented on the preseason watch list for this year’s Dodd Trophy.
KU’s Lance Leipold, Wildcat coach Chris Klieman and Tigers coach Eliah Drinkwitz were three of the 21 college football coaches included Monday on the award’s preseason watch list.
The award is bestowed annually to the top college football coach in the country.
According to a news release from Dodd Trophy officials, the watch list was created through a selection process in which the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl, Inc., were participants.
Considered were each program’s Academic Progress Rate (APR), Graduation Success Rate (GSR), commitment to service and charity in the community and — of course — projected on-field success for the 2024 season.
Each of the three regional programs enjoyed a successful season in 2023.
Leipold guided the Jayhawks (9-4) to the second of back-to-back bowl games, culminating in a win over UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. KU was picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason poll — the Jayhawks’ highest preseason ranking since the league went to a non-divisional format in 2011.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, finished 9-4 and defeated NC State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. K-State was recently picked to finish second in the Big 12 in the league’s annual preseason poll.
Mizzou enjoyed the most successful 2023 season of all three area programs: The Tigers (11-2) defeated Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl and boasted a top 10 ranking in the final AP Top 25 poll.
A midseason Dodd Trophy watch list will be released in the fall.
This story was originally published July 8, 2024 at 2:09 PM with the headline "Kansas, K-State and Missouri football coaches all make this preseason watch list."
