Courtesy of UNLV

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV head coach Barry Odom is one of three national finalists for the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach Award, the Football Writers Association of America announced.

Odom joined Liberty’s Jamey Chadwell and Louisville’s Jeff Brohm on the list. The award, presented by Chris Doering Mortgage, is given annually to a head coach who demonstrates an exemplary transition during the first year leading a program. In 2021, the trophy was named after Steve Spurrier, a former Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Famer who made immediate improvement at his coaching stops at Duke, Florida and South Carolina.

The winner of the Spurrier First-Year Coach of the Year Award will be announced after the completion of all bowl games. The winner will be honored at a banquet hosted by Coach Spurrier and former Gator great Chris Doering at Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille in Gainesville on February 26.

Odom was previously announced as UNLV’s first finalist for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award and the College Football News National Coach of the Year.

During his first year at the helm in Las Vegas, the 2023 Mountain West Coach of the Year 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.