Jeronimo Nisa/The Decatur Daily
Alabama head coach Nick Saban talks to kicker Adam Griffith during the Iron Bowl at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.
Posted: Wednesday, December 3, 2014 12:12 pm | Updated: 12:15 pm, Wed Dec 3, 2014.
By Cliff Kirkpatrick Sports Writer |
TUSCALOOSA ā Alabama coach Nick Saban was named the Dodd Trophy Coach of the Week after the Iron Bowl victory.
The award honors the coach whose program embodies scholarship, leadership and integrity, while having success on the playing field during the previous week.
Saban led Alabama to an 11-1 regular season record, the SEC West Division title and is in contention for the national title.
Off the field, quarterback Blake Sims was named SEC Football Community Service Team Player of the Week last week. Sims volunteers at a local middle school, encouraging students to stay in school. For the past three years around the holidays, Sims collected money from teammates for Project Angel Tree.
Safety Landon Collins was named a 2014 Lott IMPACT Trophy Semifinalist. The award honors college football's best defensive player who exemplifies the tenants of the award including integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity on and off the field.
In the classroom, Saban's squad boasts an Academic Progress Rate of 975, which ranks third in the SEC, and a graduation rate of 73 percent.
"Saban strives to build athletes on the field and men off the field," Jim Terry, chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation, said in a press release. "His leadership has led the Crimson Tide to remarkable levels of success."
Saban also gives back to the community through his foundation, the Nick's Kids Fund, which has distributed more than $4 million to more than 150 charities since 2007.
The winner of the annual Dodd Trophy will be announced in Atlanta during Peach Bowl week.
