It wasn't too much of a surprise, but the two coaches of the teams in the national title game ended up with the most votes. Chip Kelly, who led the Oregon Ducks to a 12-0 undefeated season after losing star quarterback Jeremiah Masoli to dismissal, earned 24 votes. Gene Chizik was in second place with 17 votes, as he rode the superlative talents of Cam Newton to a 13-0 season, an SEC Championship, and the team's first ever BCS title bid. Both of them will be seeing each other on January 10th in Glendale.
Jim Harbaugh, head coach of the Stanford Cardinal, was a distant third place with five votes. But it does raise the question: If Harbaugh had managed to go into Autzen and defeat Kelly's Ducks (and thus likely ensuring Stanford would end up playing Auburn), would he have been able to beat Chizik in the overall voting? He definitely would've had added name recognition on his side, and it would certainly have been close.
I'm sure he'll be happy with the consolation prize of hottest coaching candidate in football though.
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