HOUSTON, TX -- Penn State coach Bill O'Brien wins the Paul "Bear" Bryant College Coach of the Year Award on Thursday night.

O'Brien led the Nittany Lions through an 0-2 start and NCAA sanctions to an 8-4 finish in his first season at Penn State.

Other finalists for the award were Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, Ohio State's Urban Meyer, Kansas State's Bill Snyder, Stanford's David Shaw and Vanderbilt's James Franklin.

Snyder, Sumlin and Shaw were each finalists at the end of last season.

Former Brigham Young coach LaVell Edwards was the ceremony's other honoree, receiving the Bryan Lifetime Achievement Award given by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

Edwards retired in 2000 with 257 victories, 22 bowl appearances and one national championship in 1984.