Oct. 26, 2011

University of South Carolina head football coach Steve Spurrier has been named to the Watch List for the 2011 Bryant Coach of the Year award and junior cornerback Stephon Gilmore has made the quarterfinal list for the annual Lott IMPACT Trophy, it was announced today.

Spurrier is one of 20 Division I coaches to make the Marathon Oil Corporation Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Watch List. He has the Gamecocks ranked in the top 15 in the country with a 6-1 record, including a 4-1 mark in the SEC. In December, a finalists’ list will be announced and comprised of five to ten coaches. Finalists will attend an awards dinner on Jan. 19, 2012 in Houston, Texas at the HYATT Regency Hotel Downtown, where the winner will be announced live. The Bryant Coach of the Year Award is the only college coaching honor voted on after all of the bowl games are concluded.

Gilmore, a 6-1, 193-pound defensive back is one of 20 players still in the running for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, according to The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation.

The list includes four defensive linemen, six linebackers and 10 defensive backs. There are six players from the Big Ten, four from the SEC, three from the Pac-12, three from the ACC, two from the Big-12 and one each from the Big East and an independent, Notre Dame.

Named after Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, the Lott Trophy is awarded to college football’s Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. Now in its eighth year, the Lott Trophy is the first college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.