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Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi won the annual Broyles Award given to the top college assistant coach.
Narduzzi, in his seventh season for the fourth-ranked Spartans, was honored Tuesday at a luncheon in Little Rock. He's responsible for guiding a Michigan State defense that earned a spot in the Rose Bowl against No. 5 Stanford with a 34-24 win over Ohio State in the Big Ten Conference championship game.
The Spartans (12-1) were first in the country this season in total defense, allowing an average of 248.2 yards per game. It's the third straight season Michigan State has ranked among the top 10 nationally. The Spartans were fourth in the country in allowing 12.7 points per game.
Narduzzi has served as defensive coordinator under Mark Dantonio for the past 10 seasons, including three years together at Cincinnati from 2004-06.
The Spartans also led the nation in rushing defense this season, allowing just 80.8 yards on the ground per game.
The award is named for former Arkansas coach Frank Broyles, who is noted for developing assistants into head coaches. A number of his aides went on to stellar careers, including Hayden Fry, Joe Gibbs, Jimmy Johnson, Johnny Majors, Jackie Sherrill and Barry Switzer.
Fry, Majors and Switzer were on this year's selection committee.
Other finalists were Auburn's Rhett Lashlee, Baylor's Philip Montgomery, Florida State's Jeremy Pruitt and Duke's Kurt Roper.
LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis won last season. Other past winners include Gus Malzahn, Gene Chizik, Norm Chow, Randy Shannon, Mark Mangino, Ralph Friedgen and David Cutcliffe.
