We all know that Spaz, at age 63, is no spring chicken. Only nine of the 70 bowl team coaches are currently older than Spaziani. JoePa obviously tops that list at age 84 and Kansas State's Bill Snyder is this bowl season's second elder statesmen at age 71.
This bowl season, the Eagles have actually been matched up with a team that has a head coach older than Spaz.
Nevada's Chris Ault, at age 64, is one of two active Division I-A coaches who have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Ault has led the Wolf Pack to a record of 218-97-1 during three different stints as Nevada's head coach. So, Ault is slightly more accomplished as a head coach than Spaz.
Spaz's and Ault's combined age is the third highest coaching age total of this year's 35 bowls. Naturally, this year's Outback Bowl between Florida and Penn State tops the list (outlier!).
| Bowl | Team | Coach | Age | Team | Coach | Age | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outback | Florida | Urban Meyer | 46 | Penn State | Joe Paterno | 84 | 130 |
| New Orleans | Troy | Larry Blakeney | 63 | Ohio Bobcats | Frank Solich | 66 | 129 |
| Kraft Fight Hunger | Boston College | Frank Spaziani | 63 | Nevada | Chris Ault | 64 | 127 |
| Champs Sports | N.C. State | Tom O'Brien | 62 | West Virginia | Bill Stewart | 58 | 120 |
| Pinstripe | Syracuse | Doug Marrone | 46 | Kansas State | Bill Snyder | 71 | 117 |
The youngest head coaching bowl matchup this season was the Holiday Bowl rematch between Washington and Nebraska. Washington's Steve Sarkisian (age 36) got the better of Nebraska's Bo Pelini (43) in the rematch.
Good news for BC? Of the 32 bowl games that have been played this postseason, the younger coach has won 17 of those 32 (.531). That might also be good news for Kentucky in the BBVA Compass Bowl, where head coach Joker Phillips (age 47) has 8 years on Pittsburgh's interim coach Phil Bennett ... and good news for Oregon and Chip Kelly, who is two years Gene Chizik's junior.