ATLANTA -- Texas coach Mack Brown was rewarded for his 11-win season and No. 3 ranking when he was honored as the 2008 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year at the halftime of the Chick-fil-A Bowl on Wednesday night.
The award was established in 1976 to honor the Division I coach "whose program represents the highest ideals on and off the field."
According to the Bobby Dodd Foundation, the award is designed to honor a coach who enjoys a successful season while also stressing the importance of academic excellence and character as Dodd, the Georgia Tech coach for 22 years.
Previous winners vote on the award, along with a panel selected by the Bobby Dodd Foundation.
Brown guided Texas (11-1) to a spot in the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State on Monday. Brown is 114-26 at Texas.
"Coach Brown has an outstanding reputation, and we respect his leadership on the field as well as the many accomplishments of the team in the classroom and in life," said Bobby Dodd Foundation chairman Jim Terry. "He definitely fulfills the stringent requirements set for the award."