LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV first-year head coach Barry Odom is one of 12 finalists – and the first in school history -- for the prestigious Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
 
The Football Writers Association of America and Allstate Sugar Bowl unveiled the list on Tuesday and will now send the ballot to the FWAA membership to decide the winner, who will be announced December 20. The Allstate Sugar Bowl will hold a presentation reception on Jan. 6, 2024, in Houston where the bust will officially be presented to the winner.
 
Odom was previously named 2023 Mountain West Coach of the Year and also a finalist for national coach of the year by College Football News.
 
In his first year at the helm, Odom has led the Rebels to their first appearance in the conference's championship game after reaching the nine-win mark for the first time since 1984. His squad shared the regular-season league title with a 6-2 mark after being picked to finish ninth in the preseason MW poll.
 
The team earned at least five home wins for the first time since 2000, four road victories for the first time since 2003 and will be making its first trip to a bowl game in a decade when the Rebels face Kansas in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix on December 26. Ticket information is available at UNLVTickets.com.
 
The Eddie Robinson Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA includes college football's most prestigious awards and its 24 awards have honored more than 900 recipients dating back to 1935. For more information about the NCFAA and its award programs, visit the redesigned NCFAA.org.
 
EDDIE ROBINSON COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD 2023 FINALISTS
David Braun, Northwestern
Jamey Chadwell, Liberty
Kalen DeBoer, Washington
Eliah Drinkwtiz, Missouri
Jedd Fisch, Arizona
Rhett Lashlee, SMU
Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio)
Mike Norvell, Florida State
Barry Odom, UNLV
Nick Saban Alabama
Steve Sarkisian, Texas
Jon Sumrall, Troy