College Football Coaches Ron Zook, Jerry Kill, Bill O'Boyle and John Gagliardi
Earn Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award for Responsibility and Excellence
On and Off the Field
Each Coach to Receive $50,000 for Charitable Activities and $20,000 in
Scholarship for Alumni Association, and will be Honored at College Football
Hall of Fame
BOSTON, Dec. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Their teams amassed 43 wins this year
against a mere eight setbacks; their student-athletes displayed exceptional
discipline on the field, integrity off the field, and excellence in the
classroom; and they exercised their leadership position in their communities
with countless hours and considerable financial or emotional support to a
variety of civic and charitable causes. Who are they? They are the 2007
Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award winners: Ron Zook of the University of
Illinois; Jerry Kill, formerly of Southern Illinois University; Bill O'Boyle
of Chadron State (Neb.) College; and John Gagliardi of Saint John's (Minn.)
University.
"This award stands out among the many others in sports because it not only
celebrates these coaches' 2007 seasons, but also the way they have built their
football programs -- with young men of character, sportsmanship and
integrity," said ESPN/ABC college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit. "Simply
put, they not only win, but they win the right way. They symbolize what is
good today in college football."
Chosen by an elite selection committee and fan votes at
www.coachoftheyear.com as the college football coach in his division who best
exemplifies responsibility and excellence on and off the field of play, each
winner receives from Liberty Mutual $50,000 to support his civic and
charitable activities, and $20,000 in scholarship money for their
Universities' alumni associations. In addition, Coaches Zook, Kill, O'Boyle
and Gagliardi will be honored in the permanent Liberty Mutual Coach of the
Year Award display at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.
"The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame takes great
pride in being associated with The Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award,"
said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "With a set of criteria that reaches
far beyond the scoreboard, this award stands for many of the same values that
our organization has been promoting for the past 60 years: integrity,
sportsmanship, community leadership, academic achievement and athletic
excellence."
Division I-A/Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) -- Ron Zook, University of
Illinois
In his third year at the helm of Illinois, Coach Zook turned the 2006
Fighting Illini from a two-win squad into 9-3 Big Ten runners-up in 2007. A
current four-game win streak that began at home against Ball State on October
27 was punctuated a month later by a 28-21 upset of Ohio State in Columbus,
rewarding Illinois with its first Rose Bowl berth since 1984 where they will
take on Southern California.
Off the field, Coach Zook demonstrates great commitment to his players'
success in the classroom, noted by the eight-point improvement in the team's
Academic Progress Rate (APR) in 2007. He also is active in many community and
charitable endeavors, including a women's football clinic that he hosts to
raise money for the American Cancer Society, and organizing a team-wide supply
drive to support Cunningham Children's Home in Urbana.
Division I-AA/Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) -- Jerry Kill,
Southern Illinois University
Coach Kill's dream to lead an FBS team came true earlier this month when
he was named head coach of Northern Illinois. But not before he culminated
his seven-year, 55-win career at Southern Illinois with a 12-2 season and
earning the Salukis a fifth consecutive berth in the FCS playoffs. His
student-athletes regularly perform well in the classroom, earning team APRs
much higher than the Gateway Conference average. Away from the sidelines,
Kill is a leader in the Carbondale community. He and his team regularly
participate in community-service and goodwill projects, such as Habitat for
Humanity, the Special Olympics and the Souper Bowl for Hunger Campaign. After
a bout with kidney cancer in 2005, Kill formed the Coach Kill Cancer Fund,
which assists needy Southern Illinoisans seeking cancer treatment.
Division II -- Bill O'Boyle, Chadron State College
Coach Bill O'Boyle's fourth season at Chadron State was near-perfect, with
the Eagles rolling to an 11-0 regular season record before losing a
quarterfinal Division II playoff game to finish a second consecutive year at
12-1 and ranking fifth in the American Football Coaches Association poll.
O'Boyle professes academics first for his Eagles, and has coached two Academic
All-Americans in the past three seasons. Even when he's not coaching, you'll
find O'Boyle on the field -- as an avid artist, he paints the Chadron State
gridiron before each home game and logos on local Little League baseball
fields. Each Sunday, he can be found helping "Operation Bread Basket," which
delivers bread to the needy.
Division III -- John Gagliardi, Saint John's University
Saint John's Coach John Gagliardi, the first active head coach inducted
into the College Football Hall of Fame, and the winningest coach in college
football history, led the Johnnies to a 10-2 record and a Division III playoff
appearance in his 55th campaign in Collegeville, Minn. Always a proponent
that concentration and flawless execution breed success, the Johnnies this
year committed nearly 20 percent fewer penalties than the nine-team Minnesota
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference average.
His student-athletes are high performers in the classroom, with four
players earning Academic All-American honors since 2005. Coach Gagliardi's
community service record is equally legendary: he continues to run youth
football clinics and camps every off-season, and remains actively involved in
supporting youth sports in Trinidad, Colo., where he began his coaching career
while team captain at Trinidad High School in 1943 at the age of 16. The
Coach John Gagliardi Sports Complex was dedicated there last June.
"We know how passionate college football fans are, and more than 800,000
cast votes since September for the coaches they believe embody what this award
celebrates: integrity, sportsmanship and unwavering responsibility to his
student-athletes and community, accomplishing all while delivering outstanding
results on the field," said Greg Gordon, Liberty Mutual vice president,
Consumer Marketing. "These four men share a 'lead by example' philosophy, and
with the charitable and scholarship prize money this award provides they will
continue to have a positive effect on countless athletes, students and people
in their communities."
Coaches Zook, Kill, O'Boyle and Gagliardi outscored other finalists on a
combination of selection committee ballots cast by national college football
media and College Football Hall of Fame coaches and players. The media and
Hall of Fame votes contributed 25 percent and 55 percent to each coach's final
score, respectively. In addition, fan votes cast December 5-15 at
www.coachoftheyear.com contributed 20 percent to a coach's overall score.
The finalists were determined by evaluating the top 25 coaches with fan
votes in each division (September 6 - November 27) with an objective model
designed exclusively for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award and
reviewed and endorsed by the College Football Hall of Fame. The model arrived
at the finalists by scoring each of these qualifying coaches in four areas:
coaching excellence, sportsmanship and integrity, academic excellence, and
community commitment. Data used in the evaluation process include won/loss
records, penalties and personal fouls, Academic Progress Rates and Academic
All-Americans, charitable and civic activities and contributions, and more.
Media voters include: Craig Bennett (USA Today), Jack Bogaczyk (Charleston
Daily Mail), Tim Brando (CBS Sports, Sporting News Radio), Pat Coleman
(D3football.com), Colin Cowherd (ESPN Radio), Bob Eblen (D2football.com),
Marcus Fitzsimmons (Maryville Daily Times), Teddy Greenstein (Chicago
Tribune), Kirk Herbstreit (ESPN), Clyde Hughes (D3football.com), Keith Jackson
(Hall of Fame Sportscaster, retired), Dan Jenkins (Sportswriter/National
Football Foundation historian), Bill King (Rivals Sports Radio Network), Ivan
Maisel (ESPN.com), Stewart Mandel (Sports Illustrated), Keith McMillan
(D3football.com), Gordie Mann (D3football.com), Brandon Misener
(D2football.com), Ryan Tipps (D3football.com), and Bud Withers (Seattle
Times).
College Football Hall of Fame voters include: Tom Beck, Marino Casem, Jim
Christopherson, Carmen Cozza, Terry Donohue, Vince Dooley, LaVell Edwards, Joe
Fusco, Archie Griffin, Roger Harring, Don James, Billy Joe, Ron Johnson,
Gordie Lockbaum, Archie Manning (Chair, National Football Foundation), Fred
Martinelli, Darrell Mudra, Don Nehlen, Bob Reade, Jerry Rice, Jim Sochor,
Jessie Tuggle, Herschel Walker and Frosty Westering.
About Liberty Mutual Group
"Helping people live safer, more secure lives" since 1912, Liberty Mutual
Group (www.libertymutual.com) is a leading multi-line insurer in the U.S.
whose largest line of business is personal auto based on 2006 direct written
premium. A top ten provider of auto and home insurance to individuals,
Liberty Mutual is an industry leader in affinity partnerships, offering its
personal lines products to employees and members of more than 10,000
companies, credit unions, and alumni and professional associations. Liberty
Mutual Group ranks 95th on the Fortune 500 list of largest corporations in the
United States. The company, headquartered in Boston, Mass., employs over
40,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.
About the National Football Foundation & the College Football Hall of Fame
With 121 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, The National Football
Foundation & College Hall of Fame, a non-profit educational organization, runs
programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing
scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. The NFF
presents the MacArthur Trophy, the Draddy Trophy presented by HealthSouth, and
releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. NFF programs include
the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., Play It Smart, the NFF
Hampshire Honor Society and scholarships of over $1 million for college and
high school scholar-athletes. For more information, please visit
www.footballfoundation.org or www.collegefootball.org.
SOURCE Liberty Mutual Group
Lynne Cavanaugh of Weber Shandwick for Liberty Mutual, +1-617-520-7046,
lcavanaugh@webershandwick.com; or Glenn Greenberg of Liberty Mutual,
+1-617-574-5874, cell, +1-978-317-7482, glenn.greenberg@libertymutual.com
