Liberty Mutual Insurance Announces 25 Finalists For 2012 Coach Of The Year Award

BOSTON, Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- College football coaches devote fall Saturdays to executing their game strategies in hopes of leading their teams to victory. Yet, across each of the four major college football divisions, there are coaches whose dedication and commitment are felt beyond the field of play, helping to promote academic excellence among  their student-athletes and through charitable acts in their communities. Today, Liberty Mutual Insurance recognizes those coaches and announces the 25 finalists for the 2012 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award, the premier college football-coaching honor that promotes charity and scholarship while also honoring coaches for their sportsmanship, integrity, responsibility and excellence, on and off the field.

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The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award recognizes coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II and Division III.  The 25 finalists (10 from FBS and five each from FCS, Division II and Division III) were determined as a result of fan voting through CoachOfTheYear.com and Twitter from September 12 through December 1, and evaluated through an objective scoring model endorsed by the College Football Hall of Fame.  To qualify for this model, each coach was among the top 15 in fan votes in his division.  Those coaches were then evaluated on a series of on- and off-field criteria; including wins, team penalties, sportsmanship, academic performance by the student-athletes, and charitable commitments in their community and beyond.

"As both a father and a former college football player, I truly believe that coaches have an invaluable role in shaping the players they lead and the communities in which they live," said Archie Manning, Chairman of the National Football Foundation & College Football Hall of Fame. "Each of the 25 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year finalists are living proof that the complete package of on-field excellence and off-field charity inspires not just their players and communities, but also the fans nationwide who admire and respect them."

2012 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Finalists (listed alphabetically)
Football Bowl Subdivision:
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Jim Mora, UCLA
Bill O'Brien, Penn State
Mark Richt, Georgia
Nick Saban, Alabama
Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Charlie Strong, Louisville

Football Championship Subdivision:
Rob Ash, Montana State
Willie Fritz, Sam Houston State
Joe Moglia, Coastal Carolina
Jeff Monken, Georgia Southern
Danny Rocco, Richmond

Division II:
Mark Maciejewski, Shippensburg (Pa.)
Scott Maxfield, Henderson State (Ark.)
Bob Nielson, Minnesota Duluth
Peter Rossomando, New Haven (Conn.)
Jed Stugart, Sioux Falls (S.D.)

Division III:
Jim Catanzaro, Lake Forest (Ill.)
Glenn Caruso, St. Thomas (Minn.)
Pat Cerroni, Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Lonnie Pries, Concordia Chicago
Steve Staker, Coe (Iowa)

Beginning today through December 20, fans can log their Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year vote for the most deserving coach in each of the four divisions daily by visiting coachoftheyear.com on their PC, tablet or mobile device and posting a pre-populated tweet.  As part of Liberty Mutual's partnership with the National Football Foundation, a selection committee of more than 50 College Football Hall of Fame players and coaches, including Archie Manning, Lou Holtz, Vince Dooley, Ronnie Lott, Archie Griffin; as well as national college football media, such as Colin Cowherd, Stewart Mandel and Tim Brando, will evaluate the coaches based on their responsibility, integrity and on-field success to help determine the four coaching winners.  Winners are ultimately determined using the following voting weight:  Fans 20 percent, College Football Hall of Fame 55 percent, and Media 25 percent.

"College football fans across the country know the important role the coach plays in leading their team each week," said James MacPhee, senior vice president and Chief Marketing Officer at Liberty Mutual Insurance. "But it is those select few that excel as leaders both on and off the field.  That is why we are excited to give fans the opportunity to honor these coaches through the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award and are proud to announce the 25 coaches who have made such an impact in the lives of their players and communities."

Liberty Mutual will announce the four winners the morning of the BCS Championship game, January 7, 2013, in South Florida.  For their commitment to responsibility and excellence both on the field and in the community, the winners in each of the four divisions will receive a $50,000 donation from Liberty Mutual to the charity or charities of his choice, as well as a $20,000 scholarship grant in their name to their school's alumni association.  Since 2006, the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award has celebrated the work of its 21 winners by donating more than $1.5 million to over 90 charities and college alumni scholarship funds.

To support your coach's responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship and excellence, visit coachoftheyear.com, and connect with us on Facebook at Facebook.com/LMCoachoftheYear, Tumblr at LMcoachofyear.tumblr.com or Twitter at @lmcoachofyear.

About Liberty Mutual Insurance
"Helping people live safer, more secure lives" since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance is a diversified global insurer and the third largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2011 direct premiums written as reported by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.  Liberty Mutual Insurance also ranks 84^th on the Fortune 100 list of largest U.S. corporations, based on 2011 revenue. The company employs over 50,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.

The sixth-largest auto and home insurer in the U.S., Liberty Mutual (libertymutual.com) sells full lines of coverage for automobile, homeowners, valuable possessions, personal liability, and individual life insurance. The company is an industry leader in affinity partnerships, offering car and home insurance to employees and members of more than 14,000 companies, credit unions, professional associations and alumni groups.

About the National Football Foundation & College Football Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people.  With 121 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame, the NFF Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments, Play It Smart, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, and scholarships of more than $1.3 million for college and high school scholar-athletes.  The NFF presents the MacArthur Bowl, the William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings.  For more information, please visit www.footballfoundation.org

SOURCE Liberty Mutual Insurance