IRVING, Texas – The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) proudly announced today the 176 semifinalists for the 2021 William V. Campbell Trophy®, college football's premier scholar-athlete award. The impressive list of candidates boasts an impressive 3.66 average GPA, with more than two-thirds of the semifinalists having already earned their bachelor's degrees. UCF's Eriq Gilyard was among the semifinalists named on Wednesday.
Celebrating its 32nd year, the Campbell Trophy® recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.
2021 WILLIAM V. CAMPBELL TROPHY® SEMIFINALISTS NOTES
- 32nd year of the William V. Campbell Trophy®
- 63rd year of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments
- 176 Nominations
- 3.66 Average GPA
- 105 Nominees who have already earned their bachelor's degrees
- 12 Nominees who have earned a master's degree
- 5 Nominees with a perfect 4.0 GPA
- 52 Nominees with a 3.8 GPA or better
- 65 Nominees with a 3.7 GPA or better
- 34 Academic All-America Selections
- 107 Captains
- 97 All-Conference picks
- 22 All-Americans
"These 176 impressive candidates truly represent the scholar-athlete ideal," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning, whose sons Peyton (Campbell Trophy® winner) and Eli were named NFF National Scholar-Athletes in 1997 and 2003, respectively. "For more than 60 years, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards have honored more than 800 college football players who have been successful on the football field, in the classroom and as leaders in the community. And we are excited to celebrate the 32nd year of the Campbell Trophy®, which honors the best of the best. This year's semifinalists further illustrate the power of our great sport in developing the next generation of influential leaders."
The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on Oct. 27, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2021 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. The finalists will travel to the ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas for the 63rd NFF Annual Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 7, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 32nd Campbell Trophy® and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.
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.
"The NFF would like to personally congratulate each of the nominees as well as their schools and coaches on their tremendous accomplishments," 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."
Launched in 1959, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments celebrate their 63rd year in 2021. 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 878 outstanding individuals since the program's inception. This year's postgraduate scholarships will push the program's all-time distribution to more than $12.1 million.
The Campbell 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 earned him the affectionate title of the "Coach of Silicon Valley," and he used 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.
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.
As part of its support of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, Fidelity Investments helped launch the NFF Faculty Salutes, which recognize the contributions of the faculty athletics representatives at each of the institutions with a finalist for the Campbell Trophy®. Once the finalists are selected, the NFF will present each of their faculty athletics representatives with a plaque and Fidelity will donate $5,000 for the academic support services at each school. The salutes have recognized 139 FARs since the program's inception, and Fidelity has made a total of $690,000 in donations.
Here is a breakdown of the 2021 Campbell Trophy® semifinalists by division and position:
- 79 Nominees from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)
- 36 Nominees from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)
- 15 Nominees from NCAA Division II
- 39 Nominees from NCAA Division III
- 7 Nominees from the NAIA
- 95 Offensive Players
- 64 Defensive Players
- 17 Special Teams Players
The past recipients of the Campbell Trophy® 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)
2020 – Brady White (Memphis)
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®, 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 Catapult, Delta Air Lines, Fidelity Investments, Goodyear, Jostens, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the New York Athletic Club and the Sports Business Journal. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @NFFNetwork and learn more at footballfoundation.org.
About The National College Football Awards Association
The William V. Campbell Trophy® 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.