The Auburn Tigers' Gus Malzahn is the 2014 recipient of the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award, the highest honor for any college football coach.

Malzahn told the Associated Press he values receiving the award, named for the legendary Alabama coach. Bryant won six national championships and 14 SEC titles. The award was established in 1986, three years after his death.

"When you're growing up, he's the man," Malzahn, who shares his birthplace of Arkansas with Bryant, told the AP. "The fact that I'm from the state of Arkansas and he's from Fordyce, Arkansas, and one of my best friends is coaching high school there makes it even that much more special."

In 2012, Auburn finished their season 3-9 at the bottom of the SEC under coach Gene Chizik, the 2010 Bryant recipient after the Tigers won the national championship. In his first year, Malzahn led the Tigers to being 13 seconds away from winning the crystal football, before Jameis Winston threw a game-winning touchdown pass.

"We're still hurting over the fact that we were close to winning the national championship and got beat," Malzahn said. "But if you can remove yourself from that, it was a lot of fun, our players came a long way, they improved each week and we were 13 seconds away from being the national champion."

Malzahn's competition for the award was Baylor's Art Briles, Stanford's David Shaw, Michigan State's Mark Dantonio and Rice's David Baliff. Malzahn is also the fourth Auburn coach to win the Bear Bryant Award, joining Chizik, Tommy Tuberville and Terry Bowden.

Auburn's season defied all college football logic when they won nine in a row following a week four loss to LSU. Without a miracle Hail Mary pass against Georgia and an overtime touchdown return on a missed field against Alabama, the Tigers would not likely have played for the SEC or BCS title games.

"There's no doubt," Malzahn said of his team's level of talent and determination. "It's hard to get better each week. I bet we're one of the few teams that actually did that, and the fact that we were playing our best football toward the end of the year, it was a lot of fun to watch those guys grow and end up where they did."

Below: WATCH the two biggest plays of the season for Auburn.