Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy won the 2011 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award.
Gundy, a finalist for the award a year ago, is the first Oklahoma State coach to win the FWAA’s (Football Writers Association of America) coach of the year award and was selected in an association-wide vote from five finalists, including the Wolverines Brady Hoke, LSU’s Les Miles, Kansas State’s Bill Snyder and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. Gundy is the third coach from the Big 12 Conference to win the award in the last 12 years.
“What an honor to be recognized with the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award,” Gundy said in a statement. “We’ve had a tremendous year at Oklahoma State, winning the Big 12 and earning our first-ever trip to a BCS bowl. It’s a testament to our players and our coaching staff that we are in the position that we are in. I want to thank the Football Writers Association of America for recognizing our team in this way.”
Gundy led the Cowboys to their first outright conference title since 1948, when the school was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Cowboys (11-1) won their first 10 games before they choked away their season in a horrible upset loss in overtime at Iowa State. But they rebounded with a decisive 44-10 season-ending victory over arch-rival Oklahoma to win the undisputed Big 12 title and earn the school’s first berth in a BCS bowl game.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; and he’s a member of the Football Writers Association of America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too.