Christopher Walsh lands FWAA honor

Series on Nick Saban's history of hiring assistant coaches takes second place in best enterprise/investigative story category

BamaCentral's Christopher Walsh took second place in the best enterprise/investigative story category when the winners of the Football Writers Association of America's 27th Annual Best Writing Contest were announced Monday.

It's his seventh honor from the prestigious organization. Walsh finished first in the category in 2018.

The award was for a series that posted on SEC Country last summer called "The Saban 100," about Nick Saban's assistant coaches over the years and updated the status of each one. 

Walsh created BamaCentral in July 2018. 

The winners, with links to the first-place stories, courtesy of the FWAA:

GAME

First Place — Mike DeFabo, Anderson Herald-Bulletin

Second Place — Michael Lev, Arizona Daily Star/Tucson.com

Third Place — David Teel, Daily Press

Honorable Mention — Alex Scarborough, ESPN.com; Bill Bender, Sporting News; Edward Aschoff, ESPN.com

FEATURE

First Place — Bob Hammel, Bloomington Herald-Times (retired)

Second Place — Ron Higgins, Times-Picayune/NOLA.com

Third Place— Paul Payne, The Montgomery Advertiser

Honorable Mention — Pete Thamel, Yahoo Sports; Dave Wilson, ESPN.com; Glenn Guilbeau, USA Today Network; David Barron, Houston Chronicle

COLUMNS

First Place — Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com

Second Place — Mike DeFabo, Anderson Herald-Bulletin

Third Place — Harry Minium, odusports.com

Honorable Mention — Dick Gabriel, WKYT/Big Blue Insider; Pete Thamel, Yahoo Sports;Mark Rea, Buckeye Sports Bulletin

ENTERPRISE

First Place — Jake Trotter, ESPN.com

Second Place — Christopher Walsh, SEC Country

Third Place – Adam Rittenberg, Heather Dinich, Tom VanHaaren, ESPN.com

Honorable Mention — Kirk Bohls, Austin American-Statesman; Matt Fortuna, The Athletic; David Barron, Houston Chronicle