UNIVERSITY PARK (AP) - Penn State's Bill O'Brien has picked up another coaching honor.
The Maxwell Football Club named O'Brien coach of the year on Tuesday after the first-year head coach guided the Nittany Lions to an 8-4 record under unprecedented circumstances.
O'Brien will pick up the award on March 1 at the Maxwell Club's awards gala in Atlantic City. That same night, Penn State's senior class will receive the Brookshier Spirit Award for commitment, leadership and effort in 2012.
The season began under the cloud of strict NCAA sanctions for the school's handling of the child sex abuse scandal involving retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
But Penn State finished a surprising second in the Big Ten Leaders Division behind unbeaten Ohio State.
O'Brien has also been named ESPN coach of the year.
O'Brien was second to Notre Dame's Brian Kelly in voting for the Associated Press coach of the year. Kelly led the Fighting Irish to a spot in the BCS championship game.
No. 1 Notre Dame is 12-0 and will play No. 2 Alabama for the national title on Jan. 7 in Miami. The Fighting Irish are playing for their first championship since 1988.
Kelly received 25 votes from the AP college football poll panel. O'Brien got 14 votes. Stanford's David Shaw (four), Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin (three), Kansas State's Bill Snyder (two) and Alabama's Nick Saban (one) also received votes.
Kelly is the first Notre Dame coach to win the award, which started in 1998.
