Nov. 6, 2008

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - TCU head coach Gary Patterson and Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham are two of 15 semifinalists for the George Munger Award for College Coach of the Year, announced Wednesday by the Maxwell Football Club.

Now in his eighth season as the Horned Frogs' head coach, Patterson has guided TCU to its highest ranking since 2003. The Frogs are No. 11 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls and 12th in the BCS standings. Picked to finish third in the Mountain West Conference this season, TCU currently sits atop the league with a 6-0 record and 9-1 overall mark.

Whittingham has guided Utah to a 33-14 record through four seasons as the head coach, including a 9-0 overall record and 5-0 MWC mark thus far in 2008. He is 3-0 in bowl games and 6-3 against BCS schools. The Utes are No. 10 in the Associated Press poll, No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches poll and eighth in the BCS standings.

The Maxwell Football Club will announce the winner of the George Munger Award via a press release in December. The formal presentation of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Dinner on March 6, 2009 at the Harrah's Entertainment Complex in Atlantic City, N.J.

Voting for all of the collegiate awards presented by the Maxwell Football Club will begin Nov. 5 and close Nov. 23. Eligible voters include Maxwell Football Club members, NCAA head football coaches, sports information directors and selected national media.