Credit Source: National Football Foundation

Photos Source: National Football Foundation

Record 199 Semifinalists Named for 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda

Celebrating its 31st year as college football’s premier scholar-athlete award, the National Football Foundation will select 12-14 finalists with each receiving an $18,000 scholarship.

 

IRVING, Texas (Oct. 1, 2020) –The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) proudly announced today an all-time record of 199 semifinalists for the 2020 William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda, establishing an exciting new highwater mark for one of college football’s most sought-after and coveted awards.

“This is terrific news. To set a record for the number of Campbell nominees is extra special during the pandemic because it shows how the stature of the award continues to rise even during these challenging times,” said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons Peyton (Campbell Trophy® winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. “We have worked hard to expand the profile of the award, and it’s extremely gratifying to have so many schools participate this year with nominations. We believe it sends an important message to the younger student-athletes that you truly can do it all, succeeding on the field, in the classroom and as leaders in the community.”

Celebrating its 31st year, the award recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership. The NFF will announce 12-to-14 finalists in November, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2020 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. Later this year, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 31st Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda, having his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000 and receiving his own 25-pound-bronze version of the iconic statue.

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.

“It is wonderful to see a record number of semifinalists for the Campbell Trophy® during such a turbulent year, proving the Future for Football is bright,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “We are extremely proud to highlight each semifinalist’s achievements, showcasing their ability to balance academics and athletics at the highest level. The NFF Awards Committee will have an incredibly difficult task in selecting the finalists from this outstanding group of candidates.”

In September 2019, Mazda announced a three-year partnership to become the presenting sponsor of the Campbell Trophy®, kicking off the automaker’s Power of Potential Platform. Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of workplace savings plans in higher education, serves as the presenting sponsor of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards.

Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments celebrate their 62nd year in 2020. The awards were the first initiative in history to grant postgraduate scholarships based on both a player’s academic and athletic accomplishments, and the NFF has recognized 866 outstanding individuals since the program’s inception. This year’s postgraduate scholarships will push the program’s all-time distribution to more than $11.9 million. The trophy was first awarded in 1990, adding to the program’s prestige. Past recipients include two Rhodes Scholars, a Rhodes Scholar finalist, two Heisman Trophy winners and seven first-round NFL draft picks.

Named in honor of the late Bill Campbell, the trophy has been prominently displayed inside its official home at the New York Athletic Club since 2013, and the winner is honored each year during a special luncheon at the venue.

An All-Ivy League player and the captain of Columbia’s 1961 Ivy League championship team, Bill Campbell found his true calling after an unlikely career change at age 39 from Columbia football coach to advertising executive. His ability to recruit, develop and manage talented executives – all lessons learned on the gridiron – proved to be a critical component of his ability to inspire his business teams to the highest levels of success.

As the CEO and chairman of Intuit, Campbell’s unique talent in building teams allowed him to become one of the most influential individuals in Silicon Valley, using the lessons of the gridiron to mentor Steve Jobs of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Sundar Pichai and Eric Schmidt of Google, Scott Cook and Brad Smith of Intuit, John Doerr of Kleiner-Perkins, Dick Costolo at Twitter, Diane Greene of VMWare and countless others. His contributions were recently captured in a book titled “The Trillion Dollar Coach,” and during his lifetime, he affectionally became known as the “Coach of Silicon Valley.”

Campbell joined the NFF Board in 1978 while he was still a coach at Columbia, and he continued to serve with distinction until his passing in 2016. In 2004, the NFF recognized Campbell’s contributions and accomplishments by presenting him with the NFF Gold Medal, the organization’s highest honor. In 2009, the NFF renamed college football’s premier scholar-athlete award as The William V. Campbell Trophy® in his honor.

2020 WILLIAM V. CAMPBELL TROPHY® PRESENTED BY MAZDA SEMIFINALISTS NOTES

  • 31st year of the William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda
  • 62nd year of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments
  • 199 Nominations
  • 3.67 Average GPA
  • 9 Nominees with a perfect 4.0 GPA
  • 59 Nominees with a 3.8 GPA or better
  • 72 Nominees with a 3.7 GPA or Better
  • 18 Academic All-America Selections
  • 94 Captains
  • 110 All-Conference Picks
  • 18 All-Americans
  • 85 Nominees from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)
  • 45 Nominees from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)
  • 20 Nominees from NCAA Division II
  • 40 Nominees from NCAA Division III
  • 9 Nominees from the NAIA
  • 107 Offensive Players
  • 72 Defensive Players
  • 20 Special Teams Players

The past recipients of the Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda, include:

1990 – Chris Howard (Air Force)
1991 – Brad Culpepper (Florida)
1992 – Jim Hansen (Colorado)
1993 – Thomas Burns (Virginia)
1994 – Rob Zatechka (Nebraska)
1995 – Bobby Hoying (Ohio State)
1996 – Danny Wuerffel (Florida)
1997 – Peyton Manning (Tennessee)
1998 – Matt Stinchcomb (Georgia)
1999 – Chad Pennington (Marshall)
2000 – Kyle Vanden Bosch (Nebraska)
2001 – Joaquin Gonzalez (Miami [FL])
2002 – Brandon Roberts (Washington U. in St. Louis [MO])
2003 – Craig Krenzel (Ohio State)
2004 – Michael Munoz (Tennessee)
2005 – Rudy Niswanger (LSU)
2006 – Brian Leonard (Rutgers)
2007 – Dallas Griffin (Texas)
2008 – Alex Mack (California)
2009 – Tim Tebow (Florida);
2010 – Sam Acho (Texas)
2011 – Andrew Rodriguez (Army West Point)
2012 – Barrett Jones (Alabama)
2013 – John Urschel (Penn State)
2014 – David Helton (Duke)
2015 – Ty Darlington (Oklahoma)
2016 – Zach Terrell (Western Michigan)
2017 – Micah Kiser (Virginia)
2018 – Christian Wilkins (Clemson)
2019 – Justin Herbert (Oregon)

SEMIFINALISTS FOR THE
2020 WILLIAM V. CAMPBELL TROPHY® PRESENTED BY MAZDA

Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)
SCHOOL NAME
Air Force Ben Peterson
Alabama Landon Dickerson
Appalachian State Cole Garrison
Arkansas Grant Morgan
Arkansas State Forrest Merrill
Boise State Kekaula Kaniho
Boston College Zion Johnson
Bowling Green State Matt Naranjo
Buffalo Zac Lefebvre
California Michael Saffell
Charlotte Tyriq Harris
Cincinnati James Smith
Clemson Will Swinney
Coastal Carolina Tarron Jackson
Colorado Matt Lynch
Connecticut Brian Keating
Duke Michael Carter II
East Carolina Jake Verity
Eastern Michigan Thomas Odukoya
Florida Jeremiah Moon
Florida Atlantic John Mitchell
Fresno State Matt Smith
Georgia Prather Hudson
Georgia Southern Shai Werts
Georgia State Jonathan Ifedi
Houston Kyle Porter
Illinois Blake Hayes
Indiana Harry Crider
Iowa State Chase Allen
Kansas Sam Burt
Kansas State Tyler Burns
Kentucky Luke Fortner
Louisiana Cameron Solomon
LSU Liam Shanahan
Memphis Brady White
Michigan Will Hart
Michigan State Dom Long
Minnesota Conner Olson
Mississippi Luke Logan
Mississippi State K.J. Costello
Navy Cameron Kinley
Nebraska Ben Stille
Nevada Sam Hammond
New Mexico State Jared Wyatt
Northern Illinois Matt Ference
Northwestern Tyler Gillikin
Notre Dame Robert Hainsey
Ohio State Drue Chrisman
Oklahoma State Logan Carter
Old Dominion Jordan Young
Oregon Brady Breeze
Oregon State Andrzej Hughes-Murray
Pittsburgh Jimmy Morrissey
Rice Blaze Alldredge
Rutgers Billy Taylor
San Jose State Jack Snyder
South Alabama Brian Ankerson
South Carolina Parker White
South Florida Trent Schneider
Southern California Erik Krommenhoek
Southern Methodist Tyler Page
Southern Mississippi Jack Abraham
Stanford Jet Toner
Syracuse Kingsley Jonathan
Temple Isaiah Graham-Mobley
Tennessee Brandon Kennedy
Texas Sam Ehlinger
Texas A&M Dan Moore Jr.
Texas at San Antonio Hunter Duplessis
Texas Tech McLane Mannix
Toledo Bryce Harris
Troy Cameron Kaye
Tulane Chase Kuerschen
UAB Jacob Fuqua
UCF Greg McCrae
UNLV Charles Williams
Utah Drew Lisk
Utah State Chase Nelson
Virginia Joey Blount
Washington Elijah Molden
West Virginia Sean Mahone
Western Kentucky Steven Witchoskey
Western Michigan Mike Caliendo
Wisconsin Jack Coan
Wyoming Skyler Miller
Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)
SCHOOL NAME
Abilene Christian Jack Gibbens
Alabama State Ezra Gray
Austin Peay State Blake Mitchell
Brown E.J. Perry
Bucknell Rick Mottram
Campbell Levi Wiggins
Chattanooga Bryce Nunnelly
Colgate Grant Breneman
Columbia Ben Mathiasmeier
Cornell Maxton Edgerly
Dartmouth Drew Estrada
Davidson Wesley Dugger
Dayton Brandon Easterling
Drake Victor Jergens
Duquesne Spencer DeMedal
Eastern Illinois Harry Woodbery
Elon Davis Cheek
Florida A&M Chris Faddoul
Harvard Eric Wilson
Holy Cross Connor Degenhardt
Illinois State Drew Himmelman
Lamar Bailey Giffen
Lehigh Pete Haffner
Marist Grant Dixon
Montana Samori Toure
Montana State Kyle Finch
Norfolk State Marque Ellington
North Alabama K.J. Smith
North Dakota State Matt Biegler
Northern Arizona DJ Arnson
Northern Iowa Brawntae Wells
Northwestern State Gavin Landry
Pennsylvania Prince Emili
Saint Francis Sam Cummings
San Diego Kama Kamaka
South Dakota Jack Cochrane
South Dakota State Logan Backhaus
Stetson Alex Brown
Stony Brook TJ Morrison
Towson Aaron Grzymkowski
Weber State Ty Whitworth
Western Carolina Grady Thomas
Western Illinois Clint Ratkovich
William & Mary Andrew Trainer
Youngstown State Christian Turner
 Division II
SCHOOL NAME
Ashland (OH) Logan Bolin
Bentley (MA) Andrew Brazicki
California (PA) Eric Hudanick
Emporia State (KS) Jace McDown
Frostburg State (MD) Aizsha Horne
Grand Valley State (MI) Tyler Bradfield
Harding (AR) Mills Bryant
Kutztown (PA) Mason McElroy
Minnesota State JD Ekowa
Northwest Missouri State Jackson Barnes
Sioux Falls (SD) Jack Schelhaas
Southern Arkansas Hayden Mallory
Southwest Minnesota State Trey Sachs
Stonehill (MA) Derek Ivey
Texas A&M-Commerce Alex Shillow
Tusculum (TN) Jackson Cauthen
Valdosta State (GA) Brian Saunds
Wayne State (MI) Lane Potter
West Texas A&M Josiah Pennington
Wingate (NC) Andrew Strickland
Division III
SCHOOL NAME
Augustana (IL) Alek Jacobs
Berry (GA) Jack Carroll
Bowdoin (ME) Nicholas Leahy
Case Western Reserve (OH) Travis Johnston
Central (IA) Blaine Hawkins
Concordia (WI) Connor Stoming
DePauw (IN) Jackson Hamersly
Franklin and Marshall (PA) Garrett Pershy
Gallaudet (DC) Cress Fisher
Grinnell (IA) Rick Johnson
Hampden-Sydney (VA) Tyler Howerton
Hardin-Simmons (TX) Jamie Pogue
Hobart (NY) Kyle Hackett
Ithaca (NY) Andrew Vito
Lake Forest (IL) John Colasacco
Lycoming (PA) Kyle Pierce
Massachusetts Dartmouth Jacob Burkhead
Middlebury (VT) Pete Huggins
Millsaps (MS) Drew Hopkins
Moravian (PA) Jackson Buskirk
Ohio Wesleyan Lucas Cooper
Redlands (CA) Calhoun Helmberger
Rhodes (TN) Mitch Batschelett
Saint John’s (MN) Chris Backes
Shenandoah (VA) Jack Massie
Springfield (MA) AJ Smith
St. Thomas (MN) Zach Bennett
SUNY Maritime Liam McManus
Trinity (TX) Michael Edmonson
Tufts (MA) Khalif Jeter
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (NY) Matt Restifo
Washington U. in St. Louis (MO) Andrew Whitaker
Wesleyan (CT) Glenn Smith
Westminster (PA) Cameron Mika
Wheaton (IL) Ryan Schwartz
Widener (PA) Ryan Stecklein
Wisconsin-Oshkosh Michael Olsen
Wisconsin-Stout Bailey Roux
Wisconsin-Whitewater Quinn Meinerz
Wooster (OH) Eric Kraus
NAIA
SCHOOL NAME
Dakota State (SD) Marcus Vanden Bosch
Evangel (MO) Darius Lee
Lindsey Wilson (KY) Cameron Dukes
Montana Western Kyle Schulte
Morningside (IA) Niklas Gustav
Northwestern (IA) Shane Solberg
Peru State (NE) Dylan Dittman
Southeastern (FL) Cory Rahman
William Penn (IA) Jace Neugebauer

About The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl “Red” Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Future for Football, The William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Goodyear, Mazda, the New York Athletic Club, the Pasadena Tournament of Roses and the Sports Business Journal. Follow us on FacebookInstagram and Twitter @NFFNetwork and learn more at footballfoundation.org.

About The National College Football Awards Association
The William V. Campbell Trophy® Presented by Mazda is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA), which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. Founded in 1997, the NCFAA and its 25 awards now boast over 800 recipients, dating to 1935. Visit ncfaa.org to learn more about the association.

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