Penn Stateâ??s Oâ??Brien wins another award

College football season is well over, but Bill O'Brien continues to bring home the hardware.

Penn State's coach won his third national award on Thursday as he was named the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year in a ceremony in Houston.

O'Brien, who helped keep the Nittany Lions together in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal and massive NCAA sanctions, had previously been named coach of the year by the Maxwell Football Club and ESPN.

He beat out Vanderbilt's James Franklin, Ohio State's Urban Meyer, Stanford's David Shaw, Kansas State's Bill Snyder and Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin for the honor, which is voted on by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

The award has been given out annually since the 1986 season, with the first recipient being Joe Paterno after leading Penn State to a national title.