Bill O’Brien did not win the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award announced last Thursday (it went to Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly), but he has again been nominated for another honor. This time, it is the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year award, and Penn State’s first year head coach is one of six finalists.

Joining O’Brien, the other five nominees are James Franklin (Vanderbilt), Urban Meyer (Ohio State), Bill Snyder (Kansas State), David Shaw (Stanford), and Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M).

This news comes on the heels of O’Brien being nominated for the Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year award yesterday. For anyone especially confused with all of the potential awards for O’Brien, this should clear the picture up a bit. The Bear Bryant Award is O’Brien’s fifth Coach of the Year nomination this season.

Named after the Alabama coaching legend, the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year award has existed for 27 seasons. Joe Paterno won it in its inaugural 1986 year. Sponsored by the American Heart Association and Marathon Oil, this year’s award will be announced a month from now, on January 17th in Houston.