By: AP via NewarkAdvocate.com —
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Ohio State coach Jim Tressel is also among 10 finalists announced Tuesday for the Football Bowl Subdivision Liberty Mutual coach of the year award.
Other finalists are Nick Saban (Alabama), Mack Brown (Texas), Brady Hoke (Ball State), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), Urban Meyer (Florida), Joe Paterno (Penn State), Chris Petersen (Boise State), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) and Kyle Whittingham (Utah).

The winner will be announced at halftime of the Motor City Bowl on Dec. 31.

Tressel is 72-16 in eight seasons at Ohio State and will be taking the No. 10 Buckeyes to a seventh bowl appearance and fifth BCS game at next month’s Fiesta Bowl against Texas. He has five 10-win seasons, three Big Ten titles and one national title with OSU.

# WAKE FOREST’S CURRY WINS BUTKUS AWARD: Wake Forest senior Aaron Curry has won the Butkus Award honoring the nation’s top college linebacker.

Curry received 63 points in voting, finishing seven ahead of USC’s Rey Maualuga. Ohio State’s James Laurinaitis, USC’s Brian Cushing and Boston College’s Mark Herzlich rounded out the top five.

Curry finished the regular season with 101 tackles, three fumble recoveries and an interception.

The award is named after Hall of Famer Dick Butkus.

# COOPER, HOLTZ ENTER HALL: John Cooper and Lou Holtz were elected to the College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday as coaches. Cooper is the only coach to win a Rose Bowl with a Pac-10 school (Arizona State) and Big Ten school (Ohio State).

Holtz, a former OSU assistant, is the only coach to guide six schools to a bowl game, and he led Notre Dame to its last national championship in 1988.

“When I heard I was going to the Hall of Fame, I foolishly thought, ‘Am I going in as a player or a coach?’ Holtz deadpanned. “I would have been the first third-teamer to go into the Hall of Fame.”