December 3, 2012 at 2:42 PM

Bill O'Brien was named one of nine finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award on Monday afternoon.

O'Brien, who was named the 2012 Big Ten Coach of the Year last week, is accompanied by Gary Andersen (Utah State), Dave Doeren (Northern Illinois), Brian Kelly (Notre Dame), Urban Meyer (Ohio State),Will Muschamp (Florida), David Shaw (Stanford), Bill Snyder (Kansas State) and Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M) on the list of finalists.

In his first year as a head coach, O'Brien dealt with NCAA sanctions and lost nine players as a result of transfers, but he was able to keep the Nittany Lions together. O'Brien and his team won eight of their last 10 games to finish the season 8-4.

Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno won the award twice (1982 and 1986), and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy took home the honor in 2011. The winner of this season's honor will be announced on Thursday, Dec. 13.