Franklin named 2016 Woody Hayes Award winner

Head coach James Franklin has been honored once again after leading Penn State to an 11-3 season, a Big Ten Championship and an appearance in the 103rd Rose Bowl.

On Tuesday, the athletic department announced that Franklin had been named the 2016 Woody Hayes Award winner, presented by the Touchdown Club of Columbus to college football's coach of the year.

The 2016 Woody Hayes Award will be presented during the 62nd Touchdown Club of Columbus Awards on Saturday, Feb. 4 in downtown Columbus, Ohio.

In his third year as PSU's coach, it is the second national coaching honor for Franklin of the 2016 season. He had previously been named the Sporting News National Coach of the Year. He was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson coach of the year award, presented by the Football Writers Association of America, as well as for National Coach of the Year by the Associated Press. The AP named Franklin Big Ten Coach of the Year, as well as the conference's media.

Additionally, Franklin is a finalist for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Ward, which will be announced Jan. 11.

Franklin is the second Penn State head coach to win the Woody Hayes Award and the first since Joe Paterno, who won it after the 2005 season.

The honors come after Franklin led the Nittany Lions to a Big Ten Championship, their first since 2008 and fourth overall. They also made their fourth appearance in the Rose Bowl. They finished the season ranked No. 5 in the final College Football Playoff rankings and No. 7 in the final AP Poll, released Tuesday.

Franklin isn't the only Penn State representative to be honored by the Touchdown Club of Columbus.

Junior kicker Tyler Davis is set to be honored as the 2016 Vlade Award Winner, acknowledging the NCAA's most accurate kicker.

Early enrollee offensive lineman Michael Miranda will be recognized as well. A native of Stow, Ohio, Miranda is a Buckeye Blue Chip, an honor that goes to the top high school players in the state.

While Penn State's 2016 season has been a decorated one, Franlkin highlighted after the final game that the work has only begun.

"It's to continue developing the guys that we have in the program in every aspect of their life – academically, athletically, socially, spiritually," Franlkin said after a 52-49 loss to USC in the Rose Bowl. "It's to continue to recruit well. It's keeping our staff intact for as long as we possibly can. We have a lot of work to do, guys. We won the Big Ten Championship (outright) this year. That's the first time that's happened in, I think, over 20 years. We've got a lot of work to do. There are programs that have been playing like this at this level for a number of years, and we've got a lot of work to do to catch up. It's going to be a long, steady, difficult climb. As difficult as this year was to have, we're going to have to fight even more to be able to sustain it. And there's a lot of things that are going to go into that. But with the young men that we've got in this locker room and the staff that I've been fortunate enough to surround myself with, the support that we've gotten from President (Eric) Barron and Sandy Barbour, our athletic director, if we just realize we've got a great opportunity right now and capitalize on it, keep working, you know, I think we can continue to build this thing and continue to do special things."