Bill O’Brien has been named Maxwell Coach of the Year. Having finished as runner-up to Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly in the AP Coach of the Year voting, O’Brien turned the table on Kelly in the Maxwell Football Club voting.

Maxwell executive director Mark Wolpert had this to say:

“Coach O’Brien has engineered a tremendous season for the Penn State football program while overcoming obstacles that many considered to be insurmountable. The team’s 8-4 record is a great testament to the hard work of Coach O’Brien and his staff, and to the dedication shown by the student-athletes involved in the football program at Penn State.”

ESPN.com also named O’Brien as national coach of the year, as well as Big Ten coach of the year by both the media and the other conference coaches.

The Maxwell Club will honor its award winners on March 1 at Harrah’s Atlantic City Resort. Thirty-one Penn State senior football players will also be there to receive the organization’s Thomas Brookshier Spirit Award, a well deserved tribute to a courageous and tenacious bunch of guys.