NCAA Coach of the Year Award: Criteria and Selection Process

The NCAA Coach of the Year award is a prestigious honor recognizing the most outstanding coaches across various collegiate divisions and sports. While the specific criteria may vary depending on the sport and the organization presenting the award, some common themes emerge. This article delves into the criteria used in selecting NCAA Coach of the Year recipients, drawing upon examples from basketball and football, as well as general eligibility requirements for NCAA athletes.

Naismith College Coach of the Year Award: Basketball

The Naismith College Coach of the Year Award, presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club, recognizes the most outstanding men's and women's basketball head coaches in NCAA Division I. Since its inception in 1987, the award has become a benchmark of coaching excellence. However, the criteria for selecting the winner are often debated.

Conflicting Philosophies

There are several schools of thought on what constitutes Coach of the Year worthy performance:

The Best Team Award: This perspective favors the coach whose team achieves the highest level of success, often reflected in rankings and win-loss records.
The Overcoming Adversity Award: This viewpoint emphasizes a coach's ability to guide their team through challenges such as injuries, suspensions, or unexpected departures of key players.
The Outperforming Expectations Award: This approach lauds coaches who exceed preseason predictions and elevate their teams to unexpected heights.

Ultimately, the selection of the Naismith College Coach of the Year often depends on the individual voter's interpretation of these often conflicting philosophies.

Different Ways of Evaluating Coach of the Year Candidates

One way to look at Coach of the Year candidates is to blend team performance with the degree of difficulty. For example, coaches like Mark Few (Gonzaga), Scott Drew (Baylor), Sean Miller (Arizona), Tony Bennett (Virginia), and Jay Wright (Villanova) have all been recognized for their ability to overcome challenges and achieve success.

Mark Few (Gonzaga): Few lost key players from the previous year's Sweet 16 team but managed to produce an even better team, ranking No. 1 in polls and efficiency ratings.
Scott Drew (Baylor): Drew coached his team to a No. 1 ranking after losing senior cornerstones and a starting point guard, showcasing player development.
Sean Miller (Arizona): Miller reformulated his offense after a player suspension and a season-ending injury, leading his team to a successful season.
Tony Bennett (Virginia): Bennett's team overcame the loss of key players to rank highly in efficiency.
Jay Wright (Villanova): Wright navigated the loss of captains and a starter to lead his team to a high ranking.

Another way to look at Coach of the Year candidates is to examine how much they have exceeded preseason projections. This analytic approach compares a team’s current ranking in adjusted efficiency on kenpom.com with where they were ranked in SI’s preseason efficiency projections. Across all of Division I, coaches like Grant McCasland (Arkansas State), LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central), and Kyle Smith (San Francisco) have engineered significant improvements over projections.

Grant McCasland (Arkansas State): McCasland took over a team that tied for second-to-last in its conference and led them to a first-place tie.
LeVelle Moton (North Carolina Central): Moton's Eagles went from sub-.500 to first in their conference.
Kyle Smith (San Francisco): Smith improved the Dons in his debut season, turning one of the nation’s worst defenses into a respectable unit.

Another approach measures success versus human expectations, specifically, the voting points a coach’s team received in the latest AP poll versus its voting points in the preseason poll from October. Coaches like Scott Drew (Baylor), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Mick Cronin (Cincinnati), and Leonard Hamilton (Florida State) have seen significant gains in AP voting points from the preseason.

Scott Drew (Baylor): Drew's team went from unranked to elite in a matter of months.
Mark Few (Gonzaga): The Zags exceeded expectations despite the loss of leading scorers.
Mick Cronin (Cincinnati): Cronin made Cincy a stronger contender despite losing key players.
Leonard Hamilton (Florida State): Hamilton's Seminoles were projected to contend for the ACC title after being unranked in the preseason.

The most impressive coaching achievement is earning an at-large NCAA tournament bid with a team that wasn’t expected to make the dance. Coaches like Frank Martin (South Carolina), Chris Collins (Northwestern), and Brad Underwood (Oklahoma State) have been recognized for leading their teams to unexpected tournament berths.

Frank Martin (South Carolina): Martin's Gamecocks went from unranked to a potential No. 4-6 seed in the NCAAs.
Chris Collins (Northwestern): Collins has the Wildcats on the verge of their first-ever NCAA tournament bid.
Brad Underwood (Oklahoma State): Underwood has the Cowboys overachieving in Year 1, potentially headed for an 8-9 seed.

Finally, some argue that the Coach of the Year should simply be the coach who wins the national championship. This approach removes subjectivity and focuses solely on the ultimate goal.

Spalding Maggie Dixon NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Year Award

The Spalding Maggie Dixon NCAA Division I Rookie Coach of the Year award is named in honor of the late Maggie Dixon, former Army head coach. This award recognizes a WBCA member who is in their first season as a head coach at an NCAA Division I institution and has demonstrated on-court success and enriched the lives of those around them.

Read also: Crafting Your NCAA Profile

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Spalding Maggie Dixon award, a coach must meet the following criteria:

Be a WBCA member.
Be in their first season as a head coach at an NCAA Division I institution.
A head coach whose institution has transitioned to NCAA Division I will not qualify for this award if it is not their first year as a head coach at that institution.
A head coach/assistant coach who has coached at the professional level and then returns to the collegiate level is NOT eligible for this award.

Selection Process

There is no formal nomination process for this award.

National Football Foundation (NFF) Coaching Eligibility

The National Football Foundation (NFF) also has specific criteria for coaching eligibility, particularly for the NFF Hall of Fame. While each nominee's football achievements in college are of prime consideration, his post-football record as a citizen is also weighed. He must have proven himself worthy as a citizen, carrying the ideals of football forward into his relations with his community and fellow man.

Minimum Requirements

The NFF has announced a change for the 2027 Ballot, revising the minimum career winning percentage required for coaching eligibility from .600 to .595.
A coach becomes eligible three full seasons after retirement or immediately following retirement provided he is at least 70 years old. Active coaches become eligible at 75 years of age.

Screening Process

The National Football Foundation staff will screen each candidate to ensure they meet all requirements. FBS nominees are submitted to the District Screening Committee (DSC) nearest to the institution where the nominee played. Only the top vote-getters (approximately 60 players) from the DSC are forwarded to the National Football Foundation staff for inclusion on the ballot. The ballot also carries names of candidates held over from the previous year. Any candidate not selected to the current year's NFF Hall of Fame class will automatically go through the voting procedures again the following year.

NCAA Eligibility: Academic and Amateur Status

While not directly related to coaching awards, understanding NCAA eligibility requirements provides context for the environment in which coaches operate. NCAA eligibility is based on a student-athlete’s academic readiness and amateur status.

Academic Requirements

Core Course Requirement: Student-athletes need to pass 16 approved NCAA Core Courses during their high school years. Exact requirements vary slightly between D1 and D2 schools.
Core Course GPA: The GPA will be calculated based on performance in core courses, not the entire high school transcript.
10/7 Rule: The 10/7 rule is a specific requirement for NCAA D1 eligibility. It means you must complete 10 of the required 16 core courses before your senior year of high school, or seventh semester. Seven of these 10 courses should be in subjects like English, Math or Natural/Physical Science.
Core Course Progression: You must complete 10 core courses by the beginning of senior year, or seventh semester. Among these 10, seven must be in the subjects of English, math or natural/physical science. Once you enter your senior year, the grades you’ve received in your core courses are “locked in” and cannot be changed.

Amateurism

A student-athlete's amateur status is determined by following NCAA amateurism rules, which are in place to ensure that student-athletes do not receive compensation or benefits that could jeopardize their amateur status. Students who are enrolling at a D1 or D2 school for the first time must obtain a final amateurism certification before becoming eligible to participate in college sports. NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) rules allow college athletes to earn money from endorsements and promotions while remaining amateurs.

Eligibility Statuses

The NCAA Eligibility Center reviews each athlete's case and assigns a status:

Early Academic Qualifier: Eligible to receive an athletic scholarship and practice/compete during their first year of college.
Final Nonqualifier: Does not meet the academic requirements and is not eligible to compete or practice.
Final Partial Qualifier: (D2 schools only) Can receive an athletic scholarship and practice with the team, but is not eligible to compete their first year.
Academic Redshirt: Eligible to receive an athletic scholarship and practice but will not be allowed to compete during their first year in school.
Automatic Waiver Approved: Immediately eligible to receive an athletic scholarship, and practice/compete with their team during their first year.
In Process: The NCAA Eligibility Center is reviewing the case.
Secondary Review: The NCAA will make a secondary review of the status with the help of the college compliance office.
Waiver Approved: A waiver filed by the college's compliance office has been approved.
Waiver Denied: A waiver filed by the compliance office has been denied.
Waiver Partially Approved (athletics aid only): Eligible to receive an athletic scholarship but is not eligible to practice or play their first year in college.

Recruiting and Scouting Services

The NCAA also regulates recruiting and scouting services to ensure fair practices. A recruiting or scouting service includes any individual, organization, entity or segment of an entity that primarily provides information about prospective student-athletes. An institution subscribes to a recruiting or scouting service when a staff member registers to access information provided by the service only to paid subscribers or registers to access information available only to a select group of individuals (e.g., coaches), regardless of whether a charge is associated with accessing the information.

Approval Process

The recruiting/scouting service approval process provides operators who agree to operate their services in accordance with applicable NCAA legislation and ECAG requirements the opportunity to receive NCAA "approval" for NCAA Division I coaches to purchase the service as a resource for the recruiting process in the sports of basketball and football. All approved applications expire on May 31 each year. Any recruiting/scouting service granted NCAA approval must also submit a "post expiration review form" (PERF) that demonstrates its work product and efforts taken to operate in compliance with NCAA requirements. Proof that information provided to coaches is updated a minimum of four times during the subscription year.

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