The awards keep piling up for the Mizzou football team.
Defensive end Michael Sam is one of five finalists for the Nagurski Trophy.
University of Missouri Head Football Coach Gary Pinkel has been named one of 16 semifinalists for the 2013 Maxwell Football Club Collegiate Coach of the Year, as announced by MFC President Ron Jaworski.
Pinkel has led Mizzou to one of the top turn around stories in college football this season, as his Tigers currently stand 9-1 overall, and atop the Southeastern Conference East Division standings at 5-1. Mizzou enters this weekend’s game at #24 Ole Miss carrying a ranking of #8 in the latest Bowl Championship Series ranking, as well as standing #8 in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ polls.
Mizzou football senior guard Max Copeland (Billings, Mont.) has been named a semifinalist for the 2013 Burlsworth Trophy, which is given to the most outstanding collegiate football player who began his career as a walk-on. Copeland is one of 10 student-athletes in contention for the award, which began with 53 originally nominated players.
The 2013 Maxwell and Chuck Bednarik Awards Semifinalists
October 29, 2013 – Philadelphia, PA
Maxwell Football Club President, Ron Jaworski, announced the 2013 Semifinalists for the 77th Maxwell Award for the Collegiate Player of the Year and the 19th Chuck Bednarik Award for the Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year. The respective lists include a field of 16 candidates for the Maxwell and Bednarik Awards as selected by the Maxwell Football Club National Selection Committee.
Chuck Bednarik Award – Semifinalists:
Player | Class | Position | College |
Anthony Barr | SR | LB | UCLA |
Vic Beasley | JR | DE | Clemson |
Chris Borland | SR | LB | Wisconsin |
Aaron Donald | SR | DT | Pittsburgh |
Ifo Ekpre-Olomu | JR | CB | Oregon |
Kyle Fuller | SR | CB | Virginia Tech |
Jackson Jeffcoat | SR | DE | Texas |
Lamarcus Joyner | SR | CB | Florida State |
Khalil Mack | SR | LB | Buffalo |
C.J. Mosley | SR | LB | Alabama |
Trent Murphy | SR | LB | Stanford |
Michael Sam | SR | DE | Missouri |
Ryan Shazier | JR | LB | Ohio State |
Kyle Van Noy | SR | LB | BYU |
Nikita Whitlock | SR | DT | Wake Forest |
Leonard Williams | Soph | DE | USC |
Sam has also been named as one of 18 standouts to the mid-season watch list for the 2013 Ted Hendricks Award.
The Hendricks Award goes annually to the nation’s top defensive end, and is named after Ted Hendricks, who became college football’s first three-time first-team All-American at Miami, Fla. in the late 1960s.
You can find the watch list at http://www.tedhendricksaward.com/2013_MIDSEASON_WATCH_LIST.pdf.