Kyle Whittingham is on the preseason watch list for the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Trophy.

The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl, Inc. released the preseason watch list for the award on Thursday. This year’s list includes 21 coaches, including representatives from all of the Power Five leagues as well as the Mountain West and American.

Curiously, though, the league that produced five 10-win teams last season has just one coach on the list — Whittingham. USC, Oregon State, and Washington were notably excluded from the list.

Per the release from the foundation, coaches named to this year’s watch list were required to have an APR higher than 980. The Dodd Trophy considers on-field success as well as program graduation rate, Graduation Success Rate (GSR), and APR. First-year coaches are not eligible for inclusion.

Whittingham helped the Utes to a second consecutive Pac-12 championship last season. The Utes also won 10 games for the second straight year and went back to the Rose Bowl. They ended the year top-10 in the AP poll and then brought back quarterback Cameron Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe.

Whittingham was also able to ward off overtures from Notre Dame about his offensive coordinator, Andy Ludwig. With so much of the offensive engine back this upcoming season, Utah demands respect as the team to beat in the Pac-12.

Entering his 19th full season at the helm of the program, Whittingham sits behind only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz among college football’s longest-tenured coaches.

The rest of the watch list is below:

  • Dave Aranda, Baylor
  • Andy Avalos, Boise State
  • Mack Brown, North Carolina
  • Dave Clawson, Wake Forest
  • Ryan Day, Ohio State
  • Dave Doeren, NC State
  • Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
  • P.J. Fleck, Minnesota
  • Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
  • Willie Fritz, Tulane
  • Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
  • Gus Malzahn, UCF
  • Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
  • Mike Norvell, Florida State
  • Sam Pittman, Arkansas
  • Nick Saban, Alabama
  • Steve Sarkisian, Texas
  • Dabo Swinney, Clemson
  • Mel Tucker, Michigan State
  • Brent Venables, Oklahoma
  • Kyle Whittingham, Utah