Both Bill O'Brien and Mark Maciejewski are up for national coach of the year honors -- and the fans have a say in the voting.
Here's how to vote, per the athletics departments of Penn State and Shippensburg:
Shippensburg University football head coach Mark (Mac) Maciejewski is one of five finalists for the Division II honor along with Scott Maxfield (Henderson State), Peter Rossomando (New Haven), Bob Nielson (Minnesota Duluth) and Jed Stugart (Sioux Falls).
Beginning today through December 20, Penn State fans can log their Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year vote for Bill O’Brien by visiting coachoftheyear.com on their PC, tablet or mobile device and posting a pre-populated tweet. As part of Liberty Mutual’s partnership with the National Football Foundation, a selection committee of more than 50 College Football Hall of Fame players and coaches, as well as national college football media, will evaluate the coaches based on their responsibility, integrity and on-field success to help determine the four coaching winners from FBS, the Football Championship Subdivision, Division II and Division III.
O’Brien is joined as a finalist for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award by: Brian Kelly (Notre Dame), Urban Meyer (Ohio State), Jim Mora, Jr. (UCLA), Mark Richt (Georgia), Nick Saban (Alabama), Bill Snyder (Kansas State), Charlie Strong (Louisville), Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M) and Dabo Swinney (Clemson).
Established in 2006, the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year recognizes coaches who demonstrate sportsmanship, integrity, responsibility and excellence both on and off the field.
Winners are ultimately determined using the following voting weight: fan voting (20 percent), College Football Hall of Fame (55 percent) and media (25 percent).
Liberty Mutual will announce the four winners the morning of the BCS National Championship game, January 7, 2013, in South Florida. The FBS coaching winner will receive a $50,000 donation from Liberty Mutual to the charity or charities of his choice, as well as a $20,000 scholarship grant in their name to their school’s alumni association. Since 2006, the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award has celebrated the work of its 21 winners by donating more than $1.5 million to over 90 charities and college alumni scholarship funds.
