Washington head coachhas been named one of five finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award, the Football Writers Association of American announced today. The winner of the award will be revealed on Dec. 15.The other finalists are: Western Michigan's P.J. Fleck, Penn State's James Franklin, Colorado's Mike MacIntyre and Alabama's Nick Saban."This is an especially strong field of candidates," said FWAA President Mark Anderson of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Each one of these coaches could win the award and probably would in most other seasons. They all set the bar extraordinarily high, and whoever does win Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year will further honor the great man for whom we present this award."The only previous winner in the group is Saban, who has his team poised for a fifth national title in eight years. He claimed the FWAA Coach of the Year Award previously in 2008 (at Alabama) and in 2003 (at LSU), when the Tigers claimed a piece of the national title. Petersen has been a four-time finalist while at Boise State in 2006 and '08, '09 and '10.This year, Petersen has led the Huskies to a 12-1 record, the Pac-12 Championship and the UW's first berth in the College Football Playoffs. On Dec. 31, the fourth-ranked Dawgs will take on No. 1 Alabama in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta.The finalists have been placed on a ballot, which has been sent to the entire FWAA membership. Ballots will be accepted through Friday at 5 p.m. ET.The official presentation reception will be on Jan. 7, 2017, in Tampa, where the winning coach will be handed the FWAA/Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year bust during a reception in conjunction with the College Football Playoff National Championship.The FWAA has presented a coaching award since the 1957 season when Ohio State's Woody Hayes was named the first recipient. The award is named for the late Robinson, a coaching legend at Grambling State University for 55 seasons.Robinson, who passed away on April 3, 2007, won 70.7 percent of his games during his illustrious career. Robinson's teams won or tied for 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championships after joining the league in 1959. His Tigers won nine Black College Football Championships during his career spent all at the same school.