2015 WUERFFEL TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED – 80 players get consideration for award honoring college football’s top community servant
FORT WALTON BEACH, FL — The Wuerffel Trophy announced its watch list today of 80 players from college football’s Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
The Wuerffel Trophy, known as “College Football’s Premier Award for Community Service,” is presented annually by the All Sports Association in Fort Walton Beach Florida. Named after 1996 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel from the University of Florida, the Wuerffel Trophy is awarded to the FBS player that best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement.
The Atlantic Coast Conference led all conferences with 15 players appearing on the 2015 watch list. Following the ACC are the Big-12 with 10 players, the American Athletic and Sun Belt with 9 each, the SEC and the PAC-12 with 8 each, the Big 10 and Conference-USA with 5 each, and the MAC and Mountain West following with 4 each. All FBS Conferences are represented on the list, as were Independent representatives Notre Dame and United States Military Academy (Army) with 2 and 1 nominees respectively. There are 13 nominees who were underclassmen in 2014 that are rejoining the watch list again this year.
Voting for the Wuerffel Trophy is performed by a National Selection
Committee that includes college football television and print media, industry notables, former head coaches and prior Wuerffel Trophy recipients.
2015 WUERFFEL TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST (78 TOTAL, LISTED ALPAHBETICALLY BY UNIVERSITY)
- Doug Middleton, Appalachian State, Senior, DB
- Casey Skowron, Arizona, Senior, K
- Mike Bercovici, Arizona State, Senior, QB
- Brooks Ellis, Arkansas, Junior, LB
- Fredi Knighten, Arkansas State, Senior, QB
- Kyle Ricciardi, Army, Senior, LB
- Jonathan Wallace, Auburn, Senior, WR
- Spencer Drango, Baylor, Senior, OL
- Shane Williams-Rhodes, Boise State, Senior, WR
- Justin Simmons, Boston College, Senior, DB
- Christian Piazza, Bowling Green, Senior, OL
- Taysom Hill, BYU, Senior, QB
- Stefan McClure, California, Senior, DB
- Trent Matthews, Colorado State, Senior, DB
- Andreas Knappe, Connecticut, Junior, OL
- Kelby Brown, Duke, Senior, LB
- Jaquez Johnson, Florida Atlantic, Senior, QB
- Jonnu Smith, Florida International, Junior, TE
- Roberto Aguayo, Florida State, Junior, K
- Justin Northern, Fresno State, Senior, OL
- Jordan Jenkins, Georgia, Senior, LB
- Malcolm Mitchell, Georgia, Senior, WR
- Matt Dobson, Georgia Southern, Senior, DB
- Keshun Freeman, Georgia Tech, Sophomore, DE
- Adrian McDonald, Houston, Senior, DB
- Nate Sudfeld, Indiana, Senior, QB
- Levi Peters, Iowa State, Junior, LB
- Fish Smithson, Kansas, Junior, DB
- Jordan Shelley-Smith, Kansas, Junior, OL
- Dante Barnett, Kansas State, Senior, DB
- Jordan Italiano, Kent State, Senior, DB
- Landon Foster, Kentucky, Senior, P
- Evan Tatford, Louisiana (Lafayette), Senior, TE
- James Burgess, Louisville, Senior, LB
- Jamie Keehn, LSU, Senior, P
- Blake Frohnapfel, Massachusetts, Senior, QB
- Wynton McManis, Memphis, Senior, LB
- Dallas Crawford, Miami, Senior, DB
- Josiah Price, Michigan State, Junior, TE
- Peter Mortell, Minnesota, Senior, P
- Dak Prescott, Mississippi State, Senior, QB
- Myer Krah, Navy, Senior, LB
- Don Jackson, Nevada, Senior, RB
- Andrew Cunningham, New Mexico State, Senior, OL
- Corey Robinson, Notre Dame, Junior, WR
- Joe Schmidt, Notre Dame, Senior, LB
- Shakeel Rashad, North Carolina, Senior, LB
- Tony Adams, North Carolina State, Sophomore, OL
- Bryce Haynes, Ohio State, Senior, Long Snapper
- Joshua Perry, Ohio State, Senior, LB
- Trevor Knight, Oklahoma, Junior, QB
- Ty Darlington, Oklahoma, Senior, C
- Tyler Compton, Old Dominion, Junior, C
- Will Hopkins, Oregon State, Sophomore, OL
- Adam Bisnowaty, Pittsburgh, Junior, OL
- Chad Voytik, Pittsburgh, Junior, QB
- James Conner, Pittsburgh, Junior, RB
- James Farrimond, Rice, Senior, P
- Cameron Smith, SMU, Senior, DL
- Aleem Sunanon, South Alabama, Junior, K
- Riley Dixon, Syracuse, Senior, P
- Joey Hunt, TCU, Senior, C
- Hershey Walton, Temple, Senior, DT
- Joshua Dobbs, Tennessee, Junior, QB
- Julien Obioha, Texas A&M, Senior, DE
- Brian Guendling, Texas State, Junior, DE
- Justis Nelson, Texas Tech, Junior, DB
- Tommy Blevins, Troy, Senior, TE
- Richard Carthon, Tulane, Senior, DB
- Michael Mudoh, Tulsa, Senior, DB
- Jake Brendel, UCLA, Senior,OL
- Cody Kessler, USC, Senior, QB
- Mattias Ciabatti, USF, Senior, P
- Kenneth Scott, Utah, Senior, WR
- Chuckie Keeton, Utah State, Senior, QB
- Aaron Jones, UTEP, Junior, RB
- Demetrious Nicholson, Virginia, Senior, DB
- Luther Maddy, Virginia Tech, Senior, DB
- Zach Terrell, W. Michigan, Junior, QB
- Ryan Janvion, Wake Forest, Junior, DB
- Jeremiah Allison, Washington State, Senior, LB
- Terrell Chestnut, West Virginia, Senior, CB
Nominations for the Wuerffel Trophy are made by the respective universities’ Sports Information departments and will close on October 15. A current list of nominees can be found at www.wuerffeltrophy.org. Semifinalists for the award will be announced on Nov. 3 and finalists will be announced on November 24. Formal announcement of the winner will be on December 8 at the National Football Foundation’s press conference in New York City.
The presentation of the 2015 Wuerffel Trophy will occur at the 47th Annual All Sports Association Awards Banquet on February 12, 2016 in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
Past winners of the Wuerffel Trophy are: Rudy Niswanger (LSU-2005), Joel Penton (Ohio State-2006), Paul Smith (Tulsa-2007), Tim Tebow (Florida-2008), Tim Hiller (W. Michigan-2009), Sam Acho (Texas-2010), Barrett Jones (Alabama-2011), Matt Barkley (USC-2012), Gabe Ikard (Oklahoma-2013) and Deterrian Shackelford (Ole Miss-2014).
The Wuerffel Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA) which encompasses the most prestigious awards in college football. The 22 awards boast more than 700 years of tradition-selection excellence. Visit www.NCFAA.org to learn more about our story.
Beginning in 2015, The Home Depot College Football Awards will have a new home at the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience in downtown Atlanta. Airing live on ESPN on December 10, 2015, college football’s brightest stars will be honored for their performance on and off the field.
The members of the NCFAA are unveiling their preseason watch lists over a 11-day period this month. Sixteen of the association’s 22 awards select a preseason watch list and the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award’s preseason candidates. Following is the complete 2015 preseason watch list calendar:
- Tues., July 7: Bednarik Award/Maxwell Award
- Wed., July 8: Mackey Award/Rimington Trophy
- Thurs., July 9: Lou Groza Award/Ray Guy Award
- Fri., July 10: Bronko Nagurski Trophy/Outland Trophy
- Mon., July 13: Jim Thorpe Award
- Tues., July 14: Butkus Award/Rotary Lombardi Award
- Wed., July 15: Biletnikoff Award/Wuerffel Trophy
- Thurs, July 16: Davey O’Brien Award/Doak Walker Award
- Fri., July 17: Walter Camp Award
