KU’s Leipold, KSU’s Klieman named to Bear Bryant watch list

HOUSTON (KCTV) - The state of Kansas was well represented in Wednesday’s release of the 2022 Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award watch list, with Kansas head coach Lance Leipold and Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman both making appearances.

The two head coaches of the in-state institutions were two of the 25 names in consideration for the award which honors the top college football coach of the year. The award is given each year in January to the coach “demonstrating grit, integrity and a winning approach to coaching and life, both on and off the field,” according to a release from the American Heart Association’s website.

The AHA helps sponsor the award, along with the family of the legendary Alabama coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. The college football coaching legend died of a heart attack in 1983.

Leipold and Klieman were two of the five Big 12 coaches on the watch list. Along with them, Tulane head coach Willie Fritz, a Shawnee Mission, Kansas, native, Pittsburg State grad and former Central Missouri head coach was named to the watch list. Fritz and the Green Wave represent the lone loss of the season for Kansas State.