New schedule announced for voting, presentation of Eddie Robinson Award

Tweet

The selection schedule for the winner of the FWAA's Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, sponsored by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, will undergo a change of dates in 2011.

The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and FWAA will announce up to five finalists on Monday, Dec. 5 in New York City before the National Football Foundation Annual Awards Dinner. FWAA first vice-president Lenn Robbins of the New York Post will announce the finalists. The announcement will be streamed live by XOS Digital via xosdigital.com.

On the same day, the FWAA will launch voting by its membership. The voting period will last a week. At the conclusion of the voting, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and FWAA will announce the winner of the 2011 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award on Dec. 15 from Scottsdale, Ariz.

The FWAA and Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will host a presentation reception on Sunday, Jan. 8 at the site of the Bowl Championship Series title game in New Orleans. The winning coach will be honored and receive the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Trophy from Eddie Robinson Jr., the late coach's son, FWAA president Tommy Hicks of the Mobile Press-Register and Chairman of the Board Duane Woods and Executive Director Robert Shelton of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Minnesota's Bobby Bell, 1962 Outland winner, to get trophy at January banquet in Omaha

Bobby Bell, former University of Minnesota and Kansas City Chiefs star, will receive the Outland Trophy on January 12, 2012, in Omaha, Nebraska during the annual Outland Trophy Presentation banquet sponsored by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee.

On that date, the 2011 winner of the Outland Trophy, as selected by the FWAA, will be given his trophy as well. The FWAA will announce three finalists for the 2011 Outland Trophy on November 21. The 2011 winner will be announced Dec. 8 on ESPN during The Home Depot College Football Awards. The FWAA has named the Outland Trophy winner since the 1946 season, making it the third oldest award in college football behind the Heisman and Maxwell.

Bell, who won the Outland in 1962, did not receive a trophy because the FWAA only gave plaques to the winners in those days and didn't start awarding an actual trophy until 1988. For 15 years, the Downtown Rotary Club of Omaha has been giving trophies to those who won the award before 1988.

Bell, 71, already has been inducted into the College Football (1991) and Pro Football (1983) Halls of Fame. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. Bell was an All-America at Minnesota as a 6-4, 217-pound defensive tackle under coach Murray Warmath.