Troy's Neal Brown earned his first Sun Belt Coach of the Year honor and the Trojans' first coaching accolade since Larry Blakeney in 2009. Brown led his Trojans to back-to-back 10-win seasons, posting a 10-2 (7-1 Sun Belt) record during the 2017 campaign and a second consecutive bowl berth. Troy enters the bowl season riding the nation's fifth-longest winning streak as the Trojans have rolled off six-consecutive victories.