HOUSTON, TX — Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire and Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko were recently named two of eight finalists for the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award.
The award, now in its 40th year, honors a college football coach who demonstrates integrity, grit and a commitment to improving the sport on and off the field. Other finalists include Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, James Madison’s Bob Chesney, Miami’s Mario Cristobal, Virginia’s Tony Elliott, Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea.
The winner will be announced Jan. 21 at the Post Oak Hotel in Houston, with CBS Sports Network airing the ceremony on tape delay at 12:30 a.m. Jan. 22. It is the only major coaching award presented after the national champion is crowned.
McGuire was also named the Big 12 Coach of the Year on Wednesday. Finalists and winners are selected by the National Sports Media Association, the Bryant Awards’ leadership team and the Bryant family.
This marks McGuire’s first time as a finalist for any national coaching honor. He was also a finalist this season for the George Munger Award, the Eddie Robinson Award and the Dodd Trophy.
McGuire led Texas Tech to a historic 12-2 season, including the school's first Big 12 title and its first outright conference championship since 1955. The Red Raiders reached the College Football Playoff for the first time, appearing in the Capital One Orange Bowl following a 34-7 win over BYU in the Big 12 Championship. Texas Tech became one of the most dominant teams in recent memory, earning all 12 victories by at least 20 points — the first FBS program since Alabama in 2018, and only the fifth team in the AP era (since 1936), to accomplish that feat in a single season before a bowl game.
Despite their loss to No. 5 Oregon in the Orange Bowl, the Red Raiders are expected to finish in the top 10 of both major polls for the first time. They currently rank in the top 11 nationally in rushing defense (1st), scoring defense (3rd), total defense (4th), scoring offense (7th) and total offense (11th).
Under McGuire, Texas Tech has won 25 Big 12 games over four seasons — the most of any program in that span — and is 35-18 overall. The record marks the best 53-game start by a Red Raiders coach since Jim Carlen posted a 35-17-1 mark midway through his tenure from 1970-74.
Texas A&M finished 2025 with an 11-2 overall record, a 7-1 mark in SEC play, and the Aggies' first College Football Playoff appearance with Mike Elko at the helm. A&M also added three road victories over AP top 20 opponents, most by any team in the nation.
Elko also led the Aggies to the No. 1 ranked third-down defense (.229) and were among the nation's leaders in several categories, including second in tackles for loss allowed (3.31). Texas A&M also ranked ninth in fourth-down conversion percentage (.706), 10th in punt returns (15.00), 14th in passing yards per completion (13.62) and time of possession (32:30), 16th in passing yards allowed (176.6), 18th in total defense (307.4), 19th in fourth-down defense (.412) and scoring offense (33.8), and 23rd in total offense (444.5). The Aggies were one of only six programs nationally to rank in the top 25 in both total offense and total defense.
2025 Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year Award Finalists
- Joey McGuire, Texas Tech University
- Curt Cignetti, Indiana University
- Bob Chesney, James Madison University
- Mario Cristobal, University of Miami
- Mike Elko, Texas A&M University
- Tony Elliott, University of Virginia
- Dan Lanning, University of Oregon
- Clark Lea, Vanderbilt University
Texas Tech's Joey McGuire and Texas A&M's Mike Elko
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