Heupel Named to Bobby Dodd Trophy Watch List

ORLANDO – The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl today released the preseason watch list for the 2020 Dodd Trophy. This year's list includes 13 of the nation's top college football coaches and among them is UCF's Josh Heupel.  
 
The Dodd Trophy, college football's most coveted national coaching award, celebrates the head coach of a team who enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity – the three pillars of legendary coach Bobby Dodd's coaching philosophy.
 
The watch list was created through a selection process by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, taking into consideration each program's graduation rate, commitment to service and charity in the community, projected success for the 2020 season and Academic Progress Rate (APR).
 
Heupel has led UCF to a 22-4 record in two seasons at the helm. He made an immediate impact during his first year at UCF in 2018, leading the Knights to their second consecutive undefeated regular season and American Athletic Conference Championship. Heupel became just the third coach in history to lead a team to an undefeated regular season in his first year as a head coach.
 
The Knights followed that success in Heupel's second campaign in Orlando with a 10-3 mark in 2019, earning UCF a program-record fourth consecutive bowl invitation and winning the 2019 Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl. Heupel's 22 combined victories in 2018-19 are more than the figure produced by any of the 20 other new coaches who took over major-college programs beginning in 2018.
 
Heupel and UCF get the 2020 season started on Sept. 19 at Georgia Tech. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN.