Pinkel, Copeland, Sam named for awards

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.

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